A Ninja's Gotta Do What A Ninja's Gotta Do
by music96ninja
Summary: What's going to happen when Luka signs up for a job to escort a rich and spoiled princess? Well she's definitely going to change her definition of an escort that's for sure.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"I frigging hate that princess!" A drunken man complained. I turned my head to where the sound was coming from. I saw he was on his fifth glass of beer and his clothes were tattered and dirty.

"I know right? She barely ever comes out of the castle and when she does, she treats everyone but the high class like dirt." Another man complained, also drinking beer with clothes just as dirty as the first guy.

I tried to tune them out. I was sitting in a corner of the tavern, trying to relax. The tavern was definitely in one of the poorest places in the city. The place was dirty and about to fall apart but for the most part, it was nice, homely and the staff was nice. There were mostly laborers and miners in the tavern, but there were also a small number of mercenaries and bounty hunters

I was a ninja but without a clan. So I was sort of like a mercenary now, but I liked to keep my ninja attire. I wore a black bodysuit that covered my feet, legs, and torso. Along the outside of my legs, you could see pockets that held a variety of weapons, like daggers and shurikens. There were more of those pockets around my waist and light padding, for protection, along my torso and back. My forearms were covered also providing me with fingerless gloves. Underneath my forearms were smaller daggers and a long, pointy knife that would shoot out from under my hand if I position my hand a certain way. The suit also covered my neck and half my face. My pink hair was in a ponytail save for my bangs, which were too short to be with the rest of my hair. I also wore a long black scarf.

I pulled my mask down and took a drink of my own beer. You did have to be a certain age to drink alcohol, but down in the poorer parts of the city, no one cared. If you could pay for it, you could drink it. I didn't love the drink but it helped me relax, especially now after the long job I just had. I hated long jobs. I'd start to notice small stuff and the people start to really get on my nerves.

As I was having unpleasant memories, I saw purple in the corner of my eye.

"Hey Luka." The purple-haired man said as he sat down in the seat across from me. "You feeling alright there?"

"Yeah I'm fine, Gakupo. Just tired from my last job." I took another sip of my drink.

"A long one?" He took a sip from his own beer he brought with him. He also wore a black bodysuit, which covered his whole body except his head. Over the suit, he wore a purple and white robe with a long, purple katana at his waist. It all matched his long purple hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Heck yes." I groaned. "The next job I get is going to be a short one. But for now, I'm going to relax. See you around, Gakupo." I finished my drink, got up, paid, and left the tavern.

I kept my mask down as I walked behind the tavern toward a small house. I usually only wear my mask on jobs. Otherwise I have it down, enjoying the sun on my face. I walked up to the small house and knocked on the door. Almost immediately, two small blonde twins came out and tackled me to the ground.

"Luka!" Screamed the twins, still attached to my stomach.

"Hey Rin. Hey Len." I patted both their heads, their smiles widening. Rin was on my right and Len on my left. Rin wore gray shorts and a yellow sleeveless shirt. She also had a huge white bow on top of her head. She really had a way with words and was a great actor. She could charm people to do almost anything for her. And if she got really mad and started to yell, people would be running for their lives. It's quite a frightening sight.

Len wore a similar outfit but with longer shorts and a t-shirt. Instead of a bow, he had his hair tiny in a small ponytail. He was a determined kid, set on protecting his sister and Gumi. I gave him a dagger a couple years ago and he got very skillful with it. He can hit a bird in mid-flight 10 meters away. That was pretty impressive by his standards. Both were about fifteen.

"Ok guys, get off of Luka. She's probably really tired from her long mission. Aren't I right, Luka?" A green-haired girl came out with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. She had on yellow shorts and an orange sleeveless shirt. On top of her head were a pair of orange goggles she would always wear. Gumi is a genius when it comes to blacksmith. She knows almost every single kind of weapon known and knows how to make at least half of them. I usually go to her when my weapons are in need of repair. She's sixteen.

I sighed. "Right you are, Gumi." I managed to get the twins off of me and dusted myself off. "At least something good came out of it." I pulled a bag of coins out from behind me. The twins' eyes widen. I gave each twin five coins. I pulled out another bag and poured the half of what I had left, which was about f, into it. I gave it to Gumi.

"I'm sure you'll use that money better than these two here, which will probably be for candy." I smirked at them.

I knew Gumi would use her money wisely, buying only the necessities. Both her and the twins were orphans for about two years. Their parents had been a part of a small group of people who opposed the royal family. Soon the king found out and sent guards to kill each and every one of them. None of them survived. So Gumi took in the twins since they were childhood friends.

I just happened to run into them when I caught Rin trying to pickpocket me. I met the other two afterwards and we all seemed to hit it off right away. Even with Rin, I forgave her almost immediately admitting that I didn't have any money on me anyway. Ever since then I would give them almost half of the money I would get from my job to help them get by. I had a soft spot for them.

Rin just giggled and rubbed the back of her head.

"Not me. I'm saving up to buy a sword," Len declared.

"Why a sword? You thinking of upgrading?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Yeah you could say that. But mostly so I can do jobs like you and make more money." He said with determination. I smiled and patted his head. I saw a faint blush across his cheeks.

"Maybe when you get stronger, you can be a royal guard or something."

"Why should he serve that spoiled princess and her family? Heck, why should anyone serve them? They do nothing to help us who are poor as dirt." Rin complained, her hands balled in fists. "If anything, me and Len here are going to be part of the rebellion to overthrow them."

"There's a rebellion?" I asked.

"No but there probably will be, with how the higher classes are acting. It would've happened sooner if everyone wasn't so scared of them." Rin said. I could see Rin as their leader and Len as her right-hand man. It was amusing to imagine.

"Well who can blame them? The royal guard is huge and well-trained." Gumi pointed out. "Anyway let's not talk about this out here. Luka, would you like to have dinner with us?"

"I would love to." We all went inside the house and had a small dinner, made up of some bread and meat. We had some small talk and when we were done eating, we got ready to go to bed. Gumi offered to share her room with me but I declined saying the roof was good enough for me. I lay down on the roof where it seemed to be the sturdiest. I stared up at the stars, thinking what kind of job I should do tomorrow.

I woke up really late the next morning. Actually I don't think it was even morning judging from the sun position. No one had clocks in these areas except for some shops and taverns. I didn't feel like getting up. I was actually really lazy which was why I hated long jobs. I hated working for too long. After just laying around for what seemed like an hour. I got up and started to look for a job to do.

All the jobs were listed on a board inside the tavern. I looked for one that seemed the easiest and paid the most. My eyes found a piece of paper with the highest money reward. I wondered why no one has taken it yet until I kept scanning down the paper and found out why.

"The royal family, huh." I said under my breath.

"Thinking of escorting the princess, Luka?"

I looked up and was faced with a brunette. Then I looked back to the paper. "Don't know yet, Meiko. Why can't they get the regular guards to do it?"

"Who knows?" Meiko shrugged. She had on red short shorts and a red top exposing her stomach. She was taller than me only by a few inches. She was the bartender of the tavern who was known to be able to drink more than anybody. "You should go and ask them."

"I guess so. The pay is really high so I'm a bit surprised no one has taken this job yet."

"Only because it's from the royal family." It was true. No one in the lower class liked the royals. Most of them actually hated them, yet only a few wanted to openly opposed them.

I sighed and ripped the paper off from the board. "It's only an escort so it shouldn't take too long, a couple of days at most."

Meiko laughed. She knew how I liked a quick job. I waved goodbye to her and left for the main castle. On the way, I stopped to grab a pork bun to eat and mostly kept to the shadows. When I reached the main gates, I had finished my snack and pulled up my mask. There were two guards standing on both sides of the gates. They had silver armor along their arms and legs. Their torso was covered in a light blue chain mail with the kingdom symbol in the middle, but I couldn't make it out. They had on silver helmets that covered everything but their face. Both had a long, silver sword attached to their waists.

I showed the guards the piece of paper and they opened the gates. One of them led me to the main hall while I followed and took in my surroundings.

We went through a pair of huge, wooden double doors. We walked down a long hallway and a couple of turns here and there. Most of the time, there were torches lit along the walls but sometimes there were open windows. Everything seemed to be made of stone or wood.

_"Not very impressive."_ I thought to myself. Then we stopped in front of another pair of double doors. But instead of being made of wood, these were gold, with light blue orbs decorating the edges. _"Ok a bit more impressive."_

The guard entered and motioned me to follow, which I did. The room was huge. Complex crown moldings spread along the edges of the ceilings. The ceiling itself looked like a dome, covered with stained glass making some sort of picture. In the center of it hung a huge chandelier, which was supported by several chains. At the end of the hall were four tall windows, letting the sun brighten the room. On the ground, a long red carpet stretched across the room. At the other end of the carpet, a few steps led to the king and queen themselves.

_"Holy tuna! Is this what they spend all their money on?"_

"Your Majesty." The guard bowed. "Someone has come concerning the escort, sir."

"Thank you. Bring the princess." The king said in his deep voice, waving his hand. The guard left, leaving me to stand alone.

The king had short teal hair, which was neatly combed back. He was well built and seemed quite strong. But I could tell his old age was starting to catch up to him. He wore a long, white fur cape. Underneath seemed to be a silver breastplate with the kingdom's symbol, which seemed to be a…leek?

_"Seriously a leek? Who's going to take us seriously? How did I not know about this?" _I tried so hard not to laugh out loud.

The queen also had teal hair but it was really long and almost touched the ground. It was braided down her back with jewels placed in it. She wore a long white dress, which was beautifully embroidered along the edges. She wore necklaces and rings, which looked to be extremely expensive.

Silence filled the room. I looked at king, wondering if I should speak up first. He seemed to be expecting something. Then it hit me. I bowed, trying to mimic the guard. "Your Majesty."

The king smiled. "Speak your name."

"Luka, sir, just Luka." I answered, trying to sound serious.

He eyed me a bit. "I see. So it seems you are interested in escorting our princess." He explained. I really didn't want to escort the princess or anyone from this family, but I remembered the pay and tried not to show my reluctance.

"Yes, sir."

"Well then I shall give you the details right now. You will be escorting the princess to Asakawa Kingdom, along with our top guard. You will stay there with her for a couple of days, for she will be attending a small ball. Then you will escort her back here to Saki Kingdom." He explained. My eyes widen in shock.

_"Wait, Asakawa Kingdom? That's so far away! Ok maybe not that far away but I'm going to have to stay there for a couple of days! Crap this'll probably take at least a week." _I tried to think of something to get out of this. Nothing.

The king noticed my distress. "Is there something the matter, Luka? Everything I have told you so for should not be news for you." He said as if reading my mind.

I took out the piece paper from out of my pocket. Sure enough, the king was right. Everything he had said was on the paper. It was just in small print while the money reward was at least five times bigger than it. I groaned.

The queen giggled, which sounded quite melodious. "It seems that you missed that piece of important information. We'll let you think about it since my idiot husband decided to conceal that part." Her soothing voice offered me a way out. But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to do so. The way the king and the queen acted was the total opposite of what everyone in the lower class said about them. They were so nice and considerate. Of course the king was a bit strict, but that was to be expected. Right?

"No. That won't necessary, Your Highness. I won't turn back for something as minor as that. I would be more than happy to serve the royal family, no matter how long the job is." _"What the heck am I saying? The job is too long!" _I was having an internal struggle with myself. And I was losing. How was that even possible?!

The queen clapped her hands. "Excellent. So everything is settled. Do you have any questions for us?"

I thought for a moment, and then I remembered a question that has been nagging me since the beginning. "Why did you put out a job listing for an escort? If you're worried about the dangers, why not just assign more guards?" It stayed silent for a few moments. They looked at each other and whispered some stuff I couldn't hear.

"Well," the king spoke up, "we hear of the rumors going around concerning the royal family, especially about the princess." I knew of the rumors but I still wasn't sure where he was going with this.

The queen saw my confusion. "We thought that if we hired someone of _lower class_," she said that with a bit more emphasis, "and they liked her, then they would talking how good she is."

I saw a flaw. Actually two flaws. "What if they don't like her? Or why don't you just pay someone to spread the word without dealing with the princess?"

The queen smiled at this, quite evilly. "Oh they will like her, especially if it is you."

I furrowed my brows. "What's that supposed to mean? What about my oth-"

At that exact moment, the princess herself came in with aura of royalty and prestige. She wore a teal dress with white flowery embroidery that barely touched the ground. She had long sleeves that become looser from her elbow to her hands. A teal diamond necklace was wrapped her neck. But what really captivated my eyes was her hair. It was long and teal and up in two pigtails. It was similar to her mother's but maybe because I was closer to her, her hair looked so silky and touchable. I tried my best not to reach out my hand.

"The Princess Hatsune Miku, Your Majesty." The guard bowed and left.

_"Miku. What a cute name." _I chuckled to myself. The princess snapped her head at me and glared at me with her teal, icy eyes.

"What is so funny, ninja?" She demanded, her aura quickly changing to hostile and bitter.

_"Ok but a not so cute attitude."_ I sighed. I was getting tired already.

"Nothing, princess. I'm sorry." I bowed, trying to stay on her good side. I don't think I'll be able to handle her for a week if she was always in a bad mood. Miku looked about to say something but the king cut her off.

"Miku, dear, meet Luka." He gestured to me. "She will be your escort for tomorrow. Make sure you are nice to her. We would like to see good results." Results? They talk as if Miku's some sort of experiment. But his face was saying otherwise.

"Yes sir." Miku did a little curtsey. "I will not let you down. I will make her escort an enjoyable one."

_"What?" _My jaw dropped and my mind reeling. _"Just a moment ago, she looked like she wanted me dead. Now she wants to make my 'escort' ENJOYABLE?! How is that possible? An escort is an escort. Nothing fun there, especially with this moody princess."_

"Excellent." The king said. "Now you both may leave. I will see you at dinner, Miku." Wait. That was it? He's not going to tell us what to do next? Miku started leaving and, seeing it as my only choice left, I followed her. She didn't say anything about it so I counted that as a sign to continue.

Several quiet turns later, we stopped in front of yet another pair of double doors. These were teal with gold moldings on the edges and silver doorknobs. It was very fancy. Miku snapped her head back to me again.

_"Geez if she keeps doing that, she's going to break her neck."_

"Why are you following me, peasant?" Miku demanded, giving me another icy glare. Seriously I shivered looking into her eyes, as pretty as they were, they were cold towards me. "Speak!"

I realized I was staring into her eyes so I averted them to a brick on the wall as if it were the most fascinating thing ever. "Well you didn't say anything against it. Plus I don't know what to do until tomorrow." I didn't feel like going back to Gumi's only to come all the way back in the morning.

Miku sighed and put her head in her hand. "Fine just come in with me while I try to think of something to do with you." She opened the door and entered the room. I followed, closing the door.

When I entered, only one word came to mind: huge. In front of me was a small living room, with couches surrounding a table, which had book and a glass of water on top of it. All the furniture was facing a fireplace and there were bookshelves on the both sides of the fireplace. To the left, glass doors led to the backyard, where a huge cherry blossom tree grew. To the right was a closed door, which was practically begging me to open.

"If you're done gawking at everything, hurry and sit down so we can discuss what to do with you." The princess yelled, bringing me back to reality.

"Haha sorry, princess." I laughed, not sure why I did. Maybe I got tired of attitude and just wanted to laugh at it. I don't know. But she sure didn't like it and that made me satisfied. "What is this room? It's huge." I asked, still looking around.

"This is small, at best. And this is my room, you imbecile."

"What's with you and all the name-calling?" I said, getting a bit annoyed. I let the first two go because they were true, sort of. But now she's just being difficult.

"I am only saying what's true. Besides you keep calling me princess. You are to call me Princess Miku or Your Highness. Not just princess." Her fists were balled up and her face slightly red from anger. She was clearly mad and the air got a bit cold.

"But you called me three different names. I only called you 'princess' twice." I reasoned.

"So I win. Only natural since I am the royal princess. I always win." Miku bragged, with her head held up in arrogance. "But do not worry, there may come a time for you to succeed in something. Or maybe you are just destined to fail in life."

Ouch. That was a bit too far. I stood up and pointed my finger at her. "You know what, _princess_?" I put a lot emphasis on the word princess and smiled when I saw it have the intended effect. "Do you know why your parents wanted someone like me to escort you when a couple of more guards would've sufficed?"

"Of course I know." She smirked. "They want me to have a better reputation in the kingdom."

Now it was my turn to look confused. "Then why do you continue to tempt me? Do you want me to spread even worse rumors of you?" This girl knew how to drive me insane. And I didn't know what to do.

"I could care less if you actually liked me or not." She looked at her nails, bored, as if our conversation meant nothing to her. "I was planning to bribe you anyway at the end of the trip."

"Then why don't you just pay me now that way I can try to go through with this trip without killing you?" I clenched my fists.

"I know how your kind are. You'll just take the money and leave without finishing the job." Miku said with a scowl. I was just about say something but then a knock was heard.

"Enter." Miku commanded.

A maid came in and bowed down to the princess. "Dinner is ready, Your Highness."

"I see. Leave." The maid bowed again and left the room.

"Wow, you sure like to talk a lot, princess," I sat back down, with my hands behind my hand. "It's amazing how much time has past."

"Silence. It's your fault, you nincompoop."

I raised my eyebrows and chuckled to myself. _"Haha she said poop." _I saw Miku walking towards the door, opening it.

"Wait! Am I allowed to come too?" I asked. She never tells me what I'm supposed to do. How am I supposed to protect her if she never tells me what's she going to do?

"No." Miku said bluntly.

"Then what am I supposed do?" I asked again.

"I don't care. Just don't do anything you will regret." She glared at me one last time before leaving for her dinner.

Miku just made a very big mistake leaving someone like me alone in her room. So I decided to take look behind the door that has been beckoning me from the moment I walked in. I opened the door and walked in. It was a bedroom. I facepalmed myself.

_"Duh where else is she going to sleep?"_

A king-sized bed laid itself in the middle of the room against the wall. Dressers were on both sides with mirrors on top. A grand piano sat next to a window on the right side of the room. On the left side, there was an open door that revealed a bathroom. It was a grand bathroom with separate bathtub and shower. Everything was made of porcelain and it was so shiny, I almost had to cover my eyes from the brightness. I walked over to the sink and washed my face with cold water.

_"This trip is going to be the death of me. Heck that princess will probably want to kill me first."_

After I dried my face, I decided to do some eavesdropping. I left the room and tried to find my way to the dining hall. Actually it wasn't that hard with all the servants rushing in one direction. I didn't really need to conceal myself from anyone since none of them really cared. I got the dining hall door and stole a peak inside when the doors were open. I saw Miku and her family chatting and eating. I needed to find a way inside without the family seeing me. I looked around and something caught my eye. I noticed a tile on the ceiling that looked a bit off. I used my nimbleness and climbed up the wall.

As I was under the tile, I pushed it and up it went, revealing a ladder. Obviously I climbed it, making sure to put the tile back in its place. I was surprised no one took any notice of my actions. I guess I was just that stealthy or they just didn't care about a low life like me. I decided to believe the first one just to boost up my self-confidence.

I climbed up the ladder and at the top, I was faced with four different pathways, pointing in four different directions. I held back my curiosity and tried to remember where the dining room is. I headed down the path to the right and found a tile below me. I pulled it up and saw the family directly below me.

"Are you ready for tomorrow, dear?" The king asked.

"Yes, father." Miku replied.

"Now on this trip, you will meet your future husband, Luki. So be on your best behavior. You know how much this will benefit our kingdom." The queen explained.

"Yes, mother." Miku said, eating her food.

_"Now why wasn't she this peaceful when she was with me?" _I mused at this side of the princess.

The king nodded. "Indeed, Asakawa Kingdom resides on the coast so they are abundant with seafood, especially tuna." I suddenly got very hungry and excited. I really wanted to get to this kingdom and eat some of their tuna.

"While we reside inland and produce vegetation, mainly leeks." She held up a piece of her leek on the tip of her fork and then took a bite of it. It was then I realized that each one of them was served a leek in some shape or form.

_"Man what a weird family." _I now understood the meaning behind their royal emblem. The rest of their conversation was pretty boring. They talked about tutors, meetings, training, and-wait, training? Who's training?

"Put your training to good use, dear." Said the queen, smiling. "You wouldn't want the weather taking a turn for the worst, extending the trip."

_"Nooooo. I don't the trip to be extended. I don't know what she's talking about but use your training, Miku!"_

"It'll be fine, Mom." Miku replied. "I can control it now. I probably don't even need any guards."

Now I really wanted to know what they were talking about. Was it magic? Only those of royal blood could use magic, but what kind usually depended on the family. I wonder what this family could do. Throw leeks?

They continued talking about other boring, royal stuff. I almost dozed off when I heard the clatter of dishes. I looked down and they were gone except for the servants cleaning up. I crawled up to the ladder but when I was about to exit the ceiling, the hallway was really busy for some reason. I couldn't just come out of the ceiling without arousing suspicion. I had to find another way. I chose another pathway that pointed to the general direction back to Miku's room. I suddenly felt a gust of cool air and I started to fall.

"Umph. Oh my poor butt." I sat up, rubbing my behind, and saw a familiar cherry blossom tree. I looked up and saw no trace of where I had fallen from.

"Where have you been, peasant?" I turned around and saw Miku looking at me angrily with her hands on her hips. I got the chills.

"Whatever do you mean, princess?" I shrugged, feigning innocence. "I was here on the ground ever since you left."

"No you weren't." She pointed at me. "When I got here, you were nowhere in sight."

"Maybe I just like rolling in this grass." I moved my hands through the grass. "I rarely ever see grass this green or just grass in general. It sure feels soft."

"Well since you like the grass so much, you can sleep out here tonight." She crossed her arms, smirking at me.

My jaw dropped and I stood up. "What? I'd rather sleep inside. There's a nice, huge bed in your room I could sleep on." I motioned my arms towards her room.

"Why did you go into my room?"

"Did you expect me to not go in there after being left alone?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ugh, never mind that. It's _my_ bed. Why would I let you sleep in it?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It's a huge bed and you might get lonely. So I thought why not join you and-"

"Be quiet!" Miku yelled at me. I saw a slight blush on Miku's cheeks. "I don't need filth like you to make me feel less lonely." She stomped back inside, locking the door.

_"Whoops. I might've gone too far with that." _I sighed. _"But she looked really cute when blushing."_

I turned and looked around the yard, trying to find a place to sleep. To my surprise, there wasn't much out here. Just the cherry blossom and a small pond. After crossing out the pond as a place to rest, I climbed the tree, finding a branch to sleep on. Once I got comfortable, I thought how long the trip was going to take.

_"Ok it only takes a day to get to Asakawa, but we have to stay there for a couple of days and another day to get back here. That's about four days long!" _I groaned. _"Why am I even doing this?" _I took out the job paper and looked at the reward. Money, that's why. I kept telling myself that until I fell asleep.

* * *

**So this turned out longer than I thought. Actually I just didn't know when to stop XD**

**Well forgive me for any mistakes.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_HURRY UP AND SHOW THEM, YOU WORTHLESS REJECT!"_

_The whip came down again, sending another wave of pain through my body. It kept coming down, creating scar after scar on my back. I couldn't move. They chained me to a post, making it easier for them to hit me. So much blood everywhere. My blood. _

"_BRING OUT THEM ALREADY!"  
_

_I didn't know what they were talking about. But I couldn't speak, only scream in pain. I cried, realizing they weren't ever going to stop until they got what they wanted. Everything hurt. I wanted the pain to stop. I wanted them to stop hitting me. I just wanted everything to end. I just-_

* * *

"Umph." I woke up in a sweat. " What an unpleasant dream." I looked and saw I had fallen out of the tree. I stood up and rubbed my back, hoping I didn't break anything. I walked over to the mini pond. After checking the cleanliness of the water, I cleaned my face of sweat. The cool water felt nice on my burning face. Once I finished, I pulled up my mask.

"I see you finally woke up." I turned and saw Miku standing in the doorway. She was wearing a simple white dress with frills. Her hair was down, "Hurry the carriage is almost ready." She turned and left.

"Wait!" I ran to catch up with her. "What about breakfast?"

"If you had woken up earlier, then that wouldn't have been a problem." Her face remained expressionless and cold. I put my hand on my stomach and heard it growl. I rubbed the back of my head and smiled.

"Sorry. I just realized that I didn't have a much to eat yesterday." I said, embarrassingly.

"What did you eat yesterday?" Miku asked.

"A pork bun and…" I thought for a moment. "Actually that's all I had yesterday." Wow, no wonder I'm starving." I chuckled.

Soon we made it out of the castle and the carriage was waiting. It was a pretty extravagant carriage if I say so myself. It was a big, white carriage with a guard holding the reins of two white horses.

"You know what?" I started. "I'm kind of surprised there's not a lot of the color teal." I spoke too soon when Miku opened the carriage door, revealing teal leather seats, teal curtains, teal walls, and even teal carpet.

Miku smirked. "You were saying?" She went inside and rummaged through a bag that was already inside. She threw me an apple. I caught it and was a bit shocked she did something so nice.

"Gee, thanks, princess!"

"Well I can't have my bodyguard getting weak while protecting me." So I'm her bodyguard now? I didn't care that much because I was getting really hungry.

"I'm ready now, Leon." Miku announced. "Let us go now." With that, she shut the door and carriage started moving.

I ran aside the carriage. "Wait! Am I just supposed to walk?" No answer. I looked at Leon.

"It does not matter to me." He said, monotonously. He had short blonde hair. His armor was more decorated than the normal guards, so I assumed he held a higher rank. There was a huge lance lying down behind him. He started heading toward a forest trail and I didn't want to walk the entire trip.

I thought for a moment. Then I got an idea. I climbed up to the top of the carriage. There was plenty enough of room for me to lie down and there was even a little dip, making it look almost like a hammock. I lay down in the middle and started to eat the apple. It was a good and crunchy apple, satisfying me for the time being. When I finished eating, I pulled up my mask and threw the apple core somewhere into the bushes.

"Hey! Don't litter in my kingdom, you twit." Miku complained. She had opened the window on the door and stuck her head out.

I stuck my head over the side, facing her. "Why not, princess?" I said back, smiling. "It's good for nature. Some animal or bug will eat. I'm helping them survive, so therefore it's not littering."

"Silence!" The princess yelled. "Since you dirtied my land and talked back to me, I won't be giving you any more food." She stuck her head back in and closed the window.

That got me pretty sad since I still wanted more to eat. I was about to say something back to her when I heard something fly past my ear. Without making any sudden movements, I scanned the surroundings. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary but I still felt uneasy. Slowly I rolled over so my head was above Leon.

"Have you noticed them?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied, calmly.

"Keep moving. I'll handle them." I stood at the top of the carriage. "Come on, you cowards! Come out and fight!"

Leon only looked at me questionably. I gave him a reassuring look and a thumbs-up. He sighed and turned back towards the road.

At that moment, a dagger from one side came towards me. I caught it and twirled it playfully in my hand. They must be assassins from the looks of the dagger I just caught. Though they didn't seem to be very skilled. They must've been noob assassins.

"You got to do better than that!" I yelled at the trees. I caught two more daggers from the other side. So now there were one on each side of me. That only made it more exciting. I was thinking I needed a workout. I started juggling the three I had. Well I tried to juggle.

I heard Miku opening her little window.

"Why are you making so much noise?!" Miku screamed. I dropped the daggers and I dived at the edge towards her window. I nearly fell off the carriage but I managed to catch the dagger that was only inches from Miku's face. I closed the window.

"I advise you to stay away from the walls, princess." I stood back up. "It seems we're under attack."

"Then hurry and defeated them, knave!" She yelled.

Knave? What does that mean? Oh well. I don't have time for that.

I pick up the dropped daggers. I saw the assassins had started to target other parts of the carriage. I quickly intercepted them by throwing the ones I had. I was surprised that Leon didn't even flinch when I intercepted a dagger that was heading straight towards him from both sides. He had nerves of steel.

I didn't want to waste any more daggers than I already had. So I started going on the offense. I flicked my hand and my own shurikens slipped between my fingers. The assassins noticed this and started targeting me again. I blocked their weak attacks while paying attention to where they came from. They were not that far from the edge of the road so I was able to see their shadows.

Then I threw a couple of shurikens in the general direction of one person. Hearing a grunt told me I hit my mark. I threw a couple more at the opposite side and heard another grunt. I doubt my weapon alone could be fatal but there was poison in the shurikens. As long as it cut into their skin, then they would die within a few minutes.

It was quiet for a few minutes. Either I killed them all, which was only two people, or the rest just ran away. The point is that they were gone and I could lie back down under the nice, warm sun. And that was what I did. I rolled over so I was above Miku's window.

"They're gone now," I said as I closed my eyes.

"Finally," she replied. "Took you long enough."

"Sorry," I chuckled. "Hey, can you tell me what knave means?"

There was a bit of a silence. I started dangling my hand in front of her window.

"You're an idiot," said Miku.

"Well not everyone can be as smart as you, princess." I heard the window slide open and I was ready for another creative name from her mouth. Instead a small gasp came out but I didn't feel like opening my eyes.

Suddenly Miku grabbed my hand and pulled hard. Next thing I know I was sitting on the floor inside the carriage. Miku was sitting beside me still holding my hand.

"What just happened? Did you just pull me through the window?" I don't know how Miku was able to pull me through the small window. I was surprised I even fit through there. I learned two things. I can fit through that window and Miku is stronger than she looks.

"Yes I did," answered Miku. "But that doesn't matter right now."

She held up my hand in front of my face. It was all scratched up and bleeding.

"Ahh, that's interesting." My hand didn't hurt but I wondered how I got those injuries. I sat up so I was facing Miku, who was still holding my hand.

"So is there a reason you're still holding my hand?" I asked and Miku blushed. Sometimes it's just too easy to tease her. But I shouldn't push it. Yet she was still holding my hand.

"Just close your eyes," said Miku. She looked down at my hand, still blushing.

"Why?"

"Just do it," she said a little louder. She looked a bit uneasy.

"Ok ok." I closed my eyes. I felt something cool spread across my hand. It felt like water. I winced a little bit at the contact between the water and my wounds.

"_Wait, where did she get water? Did she dunk my hand into a cup of water?" _

Curiosity was getting the better of me and I opened my eyes. The sight before me was breathtaking.

I gaped as I saw my hand glowing. Actually there was a blue light surrounding my hand. I looked closer and saw it was water. Miku was hovering her hands around mine like she was emitting some kind of energy. She had a focused look in her eyes as she stared at my hands.

_"So that's what her mother was talking about. Miku can control water. So cool."_

Suddenly I winced at the pain coming from my hand. It was a lot pain for just a couple of scratches, but it ended as soon as it started. The water turned to mist and disappeared. I examined my hand. It was all healed. No cuts, no blood. Except for a few rips in my glove but that could be fixed.

"That was so awesome!" I cried in excitement. "I always thought magic was a myth but nope. You just healed my hand. With water!" I was smiling like kid who just got a new toy.

Miku put her hand over her chest and took deep breaths. "It's only natural I can use magic." Miku said slowly. "Only those with royal blood have this power."

"Aw you guys are so lucky." I whined. I wondered what Miku's parents could do. I completely underestimated the royals. I was about to ask another question when I noticed Miku's tiredness. "Hey are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She put her hands down on her lap. Her breathing steadied but her face was still a bit flushed.

"Are you sure?" I was still worried. I don't know why but I was.

"Yeah, it's just that," she hesitated, "that was the first time I ever healed anyone."

I smiled. "So that means I took away one of your firsts." I winked and Miku blushed then I laughed.

"I won't stand for your teasing and you didn't even thank me." Miku said angrily as she opened the window. "So you can leave now." I don't remember asking for her help but I thought that wouldn't be the best thing to say right now.

I looked at Miku straight in the eye. "I'm sorry and thank you." I said honestly. Apparently Miku didn't expect such a sincere answer because she looked surprised. I think I even saw a small blush when she turned her head mumbling something I couldn't hear. I just smiled and got up to leave through the window. Suddenly my vision blurred and my head got really dizzy. I stumbled and fell on top of Miku.

"Luka!" Miku screamed. I winced at how loud she was when I realized she was right next to my ear. My head was on top of her shoulder and I had one on the wall behind her for support while my other arm was down on the seat holding me up, which was also on top of Miku's hand.

"Sorry," was all I could get out. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on Miku's shoulder. I tried clearing my head but that was hard since all I can think about is how soft her hand was. Then it started getting hot. I don't know if it was me or Miku but I do know it didn't help my head.

Miku finally pushed me off with her other hand. I fell in the other seat with a hand over my head. She pushed me quite hard or maybe I was just feeling so weak I didn't know the difference. I opened my eyes and everything was still blurry. I was able to make out Miku standing up. Then she slapped me. Hard.

That cleared my head. I put my hand up to my cheek. It hurt but it felt odd. It felt cold. Frost? I looked at Miku's hand. It was obviously red but it also had this sort of glimmer like snow.

I looked up at Miku's face. Her bangs covered most of her face but I could tell it was red. Really red. She was also breathing hard. She moved her head up a little bit and I was able to see her eyes. They were filled with anger and confusion, mostly anger.

"Get out." Miku whispered.

"I-I'm so-"

"GET OUT!" She yelled and literally pushed me out of the carriage. I sat there on the side of the dirt road in disbelief.

_"Why was she so angry? Was me falling on her that bad? Why was her hand all shiny?"_

So many questions. I probably wouldn't be getting any answers from Miku any time soon. I felt my cheek and it was still cold. I rubbed off a bit of frost/snow. I'm not sure if she meant to do that. Her powers make me curious. She controls water but can also do something with ice. Ice and water is the same thing, right?

"Crap! Where did the carriage go? I can't see them anymore." I sat longer than I thought. I got up and dusted myself off. I stretched a little bit and sprinted after the princess.

After running for about ten minutes, I saw the carriage. I ran a bit faster and climbed on top of it. I collapsed on the roof, getting tired all of a sudden. I crawled over to Leon.

"Do you…have any…food?" I said warily. Leon turned and looked up at me. I felt him examining me. I hope he could see how tired and hungry I was. Thankfully he nodded and grabbed a bag next to him and threw it to me. I beamed.

"Man thanks a bunch!" I exclaimed. Leon only nodded and looked back at the road. I opened the bag and saw bread, meat, milk, and an apple. I almost squealed in delight. I immediately dug into my feast. After I finished, I felt so full and alive like I could anything. Like taking a nap. I lay down and stretched real good. I bask in the warm, afternoon sun about to take my long deserved nap.

"Leon, when will we get to Asakawa Kingdom?" I asked.

"Some time before sundown," he answered, "if they are no more distractions." He added. I laughed.

"Do you need to rest? I could take over for you." I offered.

Leon shook his head. "No. You probably need more rest than I do, Luka." I wondered if he was able to hear what happened inside. If so, I could just feel him smiling.

I sighed. "Thanks." I closed my eyes and yawned. I really hope there weren't anymore distractions. I needed all the energy I could to last the rest of the trip. I drifted off to sleep thinking about how to apologize to Miku.

* * *

_"Your parents didn't want a tainted like you!"_

_They pulled my head up by my hair and spit in my face. Then they threw me back to the ground. They kept finding new ways to torture me. Trying to get me to do something. I didn't know how. I didn't know what. But they never bother to explain to me what it was. _

"_You will suffer until you die!"_

_That's the thing. When will I die? I've seen Death so many times but he has never taken me. Why must he let me suffer? Why does he reject me? Why does everyone reject me? Why…_

* * *

My eyes shot open. I was in a sweat. "Well that didn't help me think of someway to apologize to Miku. But man two in one day. That's never happened before." I sighed and pushed the thought away. I didn't like sad and negative thoughts.

I sat up and rubbed my head. It was still pretty bright and the annoying crickets could already be heard chirping in the silence. I love summer days because the sun was out the longest. But fall was approaching and I saw some leaves already changing color. I looked ahead of the road and saw a wall closing in from the distance.

"Hey, Leon, is that Asakawa Kingdom?' I asked, stretching.

"Yes."

"Finally!" I cheered. "I can't wait to sleep on a real bed. Wait, we will be sleeping on beds, right?"

"If Princess Miku allows it."

"Oh crap." I put my head in my hands. I seriously think Miku is still mad at me. I have to find a way to apologize or else the trip will just get aggravating. I'd have to get her alone and then apologize.

We slowed down when we approached the large stonewall. A couple of men that were standing guard came and stopped us. They looked exactly like the guards in Saki Kingdom but the chain mail was pink. This time I could see the symbol in the middle of their chest. It was a tuna.

I burst out laughing. _"As much as I love tuna, it's just too funny. Ahaha I'm going to enjoy this place. I hope Miku will let me eat some tuna. Ha even if she doesn't I'm still going to eat them." _I started to tear up.

"What's so funny?" Leon asked curiously.

"There's a tuna as their kingdom emblem." I exclaimed, waving my arms towards the guards. "It's so ridiculous and hilarious!"

"Ridiculous? It's symbolic."

"Symbolic?" I was so confused. "For what? Food?"

Leon never answered my question because the Asakawa guards stopped in front of us.

"State your business," said one of the guards.

"We are here to see Prince Luki," answered Leon.

"Who are 'we'?" the other guard asked a bit more angrily. I raised an eyebrow. They were eyeing me suspiciously. Well it's only to be expected. A ninja sitting on top of an expensive looking carriage is not something a normal guard would see everyday.

"Princess Miku Hatsune of Saki Kingdom," answered Leon coolly. He didn't seem the slightest bit put off by the guards' rude behavior. It was like he was used to it. I just shrugged it off because the guards' reactions were pretty funny.

Miku opened her window and popped her head out.

"Is there a problem?" She asked coldly.

"N-no, our ap-apologies Your Highness," stammered the guard. Both bowed low at the princess. I smiled trying to hold back a laugh. These guards needed to be more careful with who they were dealing with.

"We'll o-opened the gates r-right away, Your Highness." The other said and both scurried away towards the wall.

The iron gates lifted up and we made our way into Asakawa Kingdom. From what I saw, the classes were basically the same as in Saki. I saw a poor boy trying to pickpocket a noble. He failed and got beaten for it. I felt sorry for him. It's always harder at first but I knew he'd get better.

Everything about the place was beach-like. There was sand everywhere. Most of the houses and buildings looked like shacks on a beach. Well the beach was like two minutes away. And the weather was hot like searing hot. As much as I loved the sun, there was only so much I could take and wearing black didn't help me. It didn't even make sense. It was like only hour until sundown yet it was still so hot out. Beach weather was weird.

I wasn't allowed to leave for the shade for the risk of being 'lost' as Leon said. Just how was I going to get lost? There was a huge, pink castle in the middle of the kingdom! How am I going to miss that?! In the end, I stayed only because I didn't want there to be another reason for Miku to be mad at me. I was just going to have to endure this heat.

While I was sweating profusely, Leon looked emotionless throughout the whole way to the castle. I looked and he was indeed sweating, probably more than I since he had on more armor. But he showed no signs of discomfort.

I wondered how Miku was faring inside the carriage. I bet she was keeping it cool in there with her water powers. Her magic power! It still blows my mind every time I think about it. I was curious on what the royals in this kingdom could do. Maybe something with water, like Miku, because they were near the beach. Maybe something with fire because the sun is so freaking hot. Maybe both. That would be so awesome.

I shook my head. Imagination can only get me so far in life. Actually not very far. The world is surprisingly cruel.

As we got closer to the castle, I noticed the castle was actually bigger than I thought. There was also a lot more pink. There was still the normal gold and white but there was pink on most of the structure. It wasn't hot pink (thankfully) but light pink like my hair.

"_Man I'm loving this place! Pink and tuna! My favorite color and food. I just might move here." _I was only joking with myself but it was a nice thought.

When we arrived at the castle gates, we didn't have to talk to the guards for they had the doors already open for us. It seems they got the message. Leon got off and opened the door for Miku to exit. I also jumped off. Then a small servant boy took the reins of the carriage and led it to a stable or something. At least that's what I assumed where he was going. Otherwise we just got robbed.

While that was taking place, a butler came out and greeted us.

"Hello, Your Highness." He bowed and Miku curtsied back. "My name is Hiyama Kiyoteru. I will be our butler during your time here." He wore a standard butler outfit. He had short, black hair and thin, black-framed glasses.

He led us into the castle and escorted us to where the prince himself was waiting.

* * *

**Well that was shorter than the first one but it felt so much longer to type. XD**

**Oh thanks for the reviews! They really make me happy! I never thought too much about reviews before but actually receiving one gives me such a great feeling!**

**Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Forgive me for any mistakes.**

**P.S. The next chapter might take me longer to write. One word: School.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The castle itself was nothing special besides the color. When we entered, it started off looking all wooden and shack-like but as we continued further in, everything looked more expensive and luxurious. It was like they had something precious hidden in the center of the castle.

Leon and I were walking behind Miku, with Leon on her left and me on her right. Hiyama was walking besides Miku and he was trying to start a conversation with her. Notice how I said trying. Miku would always answer with the fewest words possible which seem to make Hiyama fidget.

"How was your trip, Your Highness?"

"Good." I had a feeling she lied about this part.

"How do you like the castle? We just got it renovated."

"Fitting." Well I liked it.

"How are you enjoying the kingdom so far?" We were only here for like ten minutes and he's already asking this question.

"Hot."

Awkward silence. At least for Hiyama it was. Leon and I didn't care. He looked back at us with a pleading look as if the silence was killing him. Leon made no signs of life besides walking and I just made a cutting motion across my neck with my hand, trying to hint that he should just stop talking. He seemed to get the message because the rest of the walk was in silence.

He led us up a few flights of white, marble stairs. He stopped in front of a pair of silver double doors. It had teal decorations as if it was specifically made for Miku.

"This is where you shall be staying, Your Highness." Hiyama said. He motioned down the hall where another door sat. "Your guard will be staying down there."

"What about me?" I said, pointing at myself.

"I didn't know there was going to be a ninja," he said stupidly.

"Well duh, why do you think I'm here?" I asked, giving him a dumb look. Seriously we walked together for like five minutes and he never bothered to question why I was here.

He was about to say something when Miku spoke up.

"It's fine," she said sounding annoyed. "I have plans for this one." That caught my attention. I wondered what she wanted to do with me. Then I remembered the trip here and I got a bit scared.

Hiyama nodded. "I see. I shall come back later to escort you to dinner with His Highness." He bowed and walked away. Leon also walked towards his room while following Miku as she entered hers.

The room was similar to Miku's own room, with the living room, bedroom and bathroom. Except everything felt more open and it was twice as big.

"_If Miku thought her room was small, then does she think this is medium?" _

I noticed several big bags in the middle of the room. Miku opened them and I took a peek. They were clothes. They were her luggage.

_"So we didn't get robbed. But why are there so many bags? I didn't see all that on the carriage."_

"Hey reject! Come take my bags to my room?" Miku demanded.

I winced. "Can you not call me reject?" I walked over to the bags and lifted them up. They were a lot heavy than they looked. "I'll take any other names but that."

Miku raised a brow at me. "And why should I? Are you traumatized by that word?" She started walking towards a door, which lead to her bedroom.

"If I said yes, would you not call me that?" Usually I wouldn't care much about the word but recently I've been getting unpleasant memories and that word would just make me remember more.

"Maybe if I knew what happened," she smirked at me. This girl would be the last person I'd tell.

I carried the bags into her bedroom and dropped them in front of her bed. The bed was even bigger than her own. The whole room seemed to match her theme of color. The room was connected to a large balcony that over looked the ocean.

"So why did you want me to not have a room of my own, princess."

"You're my bodyguard so you need protect me when I'm most vulnerable." She searched through her bags, looking for something to change into. She put too much trust in me for the wrong reasons. Oh well she must have her reasons.

"So where will I be sleeping?" _"Her bed is definitely big enough for two people. Oh that reminds me. I need to apologize soon."_

"Sleeping?" Miku said as if the word was foreign to her. "You won't be sleeping. You are to stand guard all night."

My jaw fell. "That's impossible." I can't believe she expected me to stay up all night watching over her. _"Wait would that make me a stalker? Nah, I'll just be guarding her probably from outside her room."_

"Well make it possible," she said threateningly. She held out her hand with her fingers pointing up. Suddenly ice formed round her hand, making it look like a giant ice claw. "And you better not do anything weird either."

I gulped, hard. I stood up straight and saluted. "Y-yes, p-princess." Miku can get deadly serious if she wanted to. Plus she had the power to back her up.

"Now leave. I have to change." The ice around her hand disappeared leaving a trail of glimmer in its place. I sighed in relief and left the room.

I slumped onto the white, feathery couch. I felt like I was forgetting something and at that moment, my stomach growled. Hungry. I sat and looked around for something to eat. I saw a golden bell.

_"If the stereotypes are true, something amazing will happen when I ring that bell."_

So I did. Two seconds later, five maids came barging in with trays in their hands. There was an assortment of dishes, all of which had tuna in some way or form. I felt like I was in heaven. But I found it odd that they were standing in front of the door still holding the food and not setting in down on the table.

"You may only choose one," said one of the maids. That sadden me but I guess it made sense considering I was the only one eating and there was a lot of food on one tray. I'm sure Leon knew what the bell does. I'm also sure Miku will have plenty of food to eat at her dinner with the prince.

I chose the dish with the raw tuna in the middle surrounded by a bunch of sushi. The maid put the tray on the table and left along with the other maids. Just when I was about to dig into my second feast, Miku walked out of her room.

I swore my heart stopped for a second. Miku was covered with jewels along her neck and wrists. She wore a long black dress with long black gloves. Her hair was all curly and up in a single ponytail. She looked beautiful and I got a bit jealous of Luki for a second.

"It seems you found out how to get food," she said as she observed my food. "And here I thought you were going to starve again."

I glanced over at my food. At this moment, tuna came second to me. I just wanted to keep staring at Miku. I wanted to protect her.

Miku noticed my staring and smirked. "So how do I look?" She spun around and I clutched my chest.

"Beautiful," was all I could get out. She literally took my breath away.

"Of course I do," Miku flipped her hair. "I don't know why I even asked. I am always beautiful no matter what I wear."

That broke me from my trance. I rolled my eyes and sat on the couch. She sure knew how to ruin the mood. A knock came from outside and Hiyama entered.

"I am here to escort you to dinner, Your Highness," he said as he bowed to Miku.

"Yes, let us go," Miku said, heading for the door.

"And should I go with you and be your bodyguard?" I asked.

"No that won't be necessary," she answered. "You would just make things more difficult for me. Just stand guard here." And with that, she left through the door followed by Hiyama.

I just shrugged. I pulled down my mask and started eating.

_"That girl calls me her bodyguard but she won't even let me go with her to dinner. The food might be poisoned for all I know."_

I stopped in mid-chew and put a hand on my throat. I wondered if my food was poisoned. I waited a few seconds and started chewing.

_"Well since I'm not dead yet, the food is probably not poisoned. Wow this is some good tuna."_

I'm sure the food Miku is going to eat won't be poisoned. The whole dinner smells of arrange marriage so it wouldn't make sense if the prince kills his future wife. Especially not after he sees her.

I cleaned my tray of all food and rubbed my stomach. After I pulled my mask up, I put my head in my hands, thinking of my thoughts when I saw Miku before she left. I was so confused about my feelings. She has so many mood swings that I don't even know how I feel. Sometimes she's mean, sometimes she's nice, sometimes she's piques my interest, but most of the time she's mean.

_"Geez, it's only been like two days and I'm already noticing the small stuff!"_

I pushed these problematic feelings away because I didn't feel like dealing with them right now. I got up and paced around, thinking of what to do. My eyes fell on the golden bell again. I was curious on how the maids got here so fast. So I rang it again.

A maid came in, picked up the tray, bowed, and left. I quickly left the room and followed her. We went down some hallways and took a couple of turns.

_"Oh my frigging tuna! Just where is this kitchen?!"_

Then I lost her. I got distracted by a hanging portrait of a tuna swimming in the ocean. I walked around trying to find my way back to my room. But after about five minutes of confusion, I gave up and just started to explore the castle. I found myself walking down a long and dark hallway. I wondered why it was so dark while the rest of the castle was well lit. I wasn't scared but curious.

"Maybe they're hiding lots of treasure. Maybe there's a dungeon with evil people. Maybe there's a secret lab and they're conducting illegal experiments!"

As I walked towards the end of the hall, a single torch hung above a pair of golden double doors decorated with pink gems. I crossed dungeon off my list. I turned the knob and found it unlocked. I entered the room.

At first, I couldn't see anything except for the window that revealed the moon was out. After my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw that I was in a bedroom. I sighed, a bit disappointed.

It was an abandoned room since everything was dusty and looked like it hasn't been touched for years. Even though it was in such a dirty condition, I could tell the room was quite luxurious. The room was pretty wide and in the middle of the room stood a large bed.

The room gave me a nostalgic feel yet I felt like I don't belong in this place. I was getting a lot of mixed feelings from this room.

Thinking there was nothing else to do, I left. I walked around, half trying to find my way back and half exploring the area. There wasn't many guards, at least where I was. And when a guard would come close to me, I would hide behind a curtain or something. I don't think the guards would like seeing a random ninja wandering around the castle.

While skillfully avoiding any guards or maids, I found myself walking down another long hallway but this time it was well lit. The doors looked the same as the other one but it was silver instead of gold. I turned the knob and discovered it was unlocked. I entered.

_"Ha I'm trespassing so much. Well it's not really my fault. These doors should've been locked in the first place."_

The room was a bit similar to the dark room from before. It was still big and luxurious but unlike the other it was cleaner and somewhat brighter. There was an orb-like chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, which was dark. Two big, white columns towered above, holding up the room. Unlike Miku's room, there was only a bedroom (which I was in), bathroom, and a balcony. This family sure likes looking at their scenery.

Seeing the huge portrait on the wall of a pink haired boy, I guessed the prince lived here. And according to the nameplate at the bottom, his name was Luki Megurine.

I wandered around the room, looking at the prince's belongings. I noticed candles set up all around the walls but only some were lit. There was a desk with some papers that looked to be letters of some kind. In the corner stood a bookshelf full of books.

"It seems this prince is quite sophisticated."

Suddenly I could hear footsteps getting louder from outside the room. I looked around quickly for somewhere to hide.

"Bed. Too obvious. Bathroom. Not safe enough. Outside. I can't. The door's frigging locked!"

I heard them turning the doorknob. I was freaking out. Like a lot. If I get caught by the prince, I'd ruin my name as a ninja. Or at least an ex-ninja. So I looked up and used my amazing climbing skills. I scaled one of the columns and hid behind it.

The door opened. I peeked around column while also staying hidden. It was the prince…and Miku.

Luki wore a white suit with a pink tie. He was about a foot taller than Miku so I guessed he about the same height as me. When he walked into the room, he pointed his finger at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Then a small fireball shot from his fingertip, lighting the orb.

"Oh wow. I'm pretty sure I totally just called that. Stupid royals. Always getting the cool stuff."

"I'm glad you enjoyed the dinner, Miku," said Luki as he let Miku into the room then closing the door behind her.

"Of course," replied Miku. "I especially loved the addition of the leeks. But tuna in every single dish was a bit much, don't you think?" She giggled and looked around the room.

Luki laughed. "What? I actually told the cooks to cook less tuna and to add more leek since you were coming." He gave her a playful smile and Miku blushed. I felt a slight pang of jealousy.

"Why does she always act so different around other people?"

Luki walked over to his desk. I shifted over a little bit so I avoided his line of sight. Luki held a couple pieces of paper in his hand.

"I always kept your letters." Luki said, while still staring at the letters, not noticing the Miku's face getting redder. "As much as I love writing to you, I always enjoyed talking to you in person more." He turned to Miku and smiled warmly. I don't know why but his smile seemed a bit off like it was fake.

Miku didn't seem to notice anything except his charm. It irked me how much he had an effect on her.

"I-I'm going to the b-bathroom for a second." Miku hurried to the bathroom with her head down, probably hiding her blush. It was a bit funny when she fumbled around with the doorknob. She went in and I could hear water running out of the sink.

Luki put the letters down and stood in front of his bed. He took off his jacket, revealing a white shirt and a black vest. He stared down at his hand for a second. He summoned a fireball and shot it at the chandelier again, extinguishing the light. Then he willed smaller flames at the end of his fingers and shot those at all the candles around the room. Now that the candles were lit, the room had a somewhat romantic feel.

"Oh no. If I don't leave soon, it's going to get pretty awkward in here. At least for me it will."

Miku came out of the bathroom, her face its normal color. She put her hair down, which made her look a lot more mature. She walked over to Luki and both of them sat on his bed.

I couldn't really hear what they were saying since they were on the other side of room of me. Part of me wanted to know what they were talking about and the other part of me didn't want to know. From their body gestures, I could tell their conversation started casual. Then Luki moved a bit closer to Miku and from how Miku was starting to get red, their conversation got more personal.

"Crap, I need to get out of here. I'm pretty sure things will happen soon and I don't want to see that."

But as the two royals kept talking, I noticed something off about Miku. She seemed more nice and willing to whatever Luki said or did. Maybe she really did have feelings for him yet I couldn't shake the feeling that something wrong was happening. She looked more vulnerable.

Luki noticed this and leaned towards Miku. He kissed her and she kissed back. I looked away.

_"AHH, THE AWKWARDNESS!"_

After a few seconds, I decided to look back. They were still kissing. Luki was basically on top of Miku while Miku's arms were still at her side. Suddenly Miku's eyes fluttered open and she looked around as if she was confused on what was happening. Then she saw me. I didn't hide because the look in her eyes showed confusion and helplessness.

The next thing I know I was down on the bed with them, pushing Luki off of Miku. I grabbed Miku's shoulders.

"Hey, are you okay, princess?" I asked. She still looked a bit out of it.

"Who the hell are you?!" Luki screamed in fury as he got up from the ground.

"Tsk tsk. Watch your language. That's not very princely." I teased.

"Shut up! Now answer my question, you wench!" He yelled, pointing at me.

I sighed. "Oh the names will never end." "Well I'm the princess's bodyguard," I said while putting my hand on my chest.

"Bodyguard?" Luki asked. "I didn't see any bodyguards during the dinner."

"Well obviously I'm also a ninja," I said, putting my hands in the air. "I just hid in the shadows." I lied about that last part. I just felt like pushing his buttons.

"No matter. I command you to leave this instance!" He was getting really mad. His blue eyes even flashed red. I put it aside though.

"No. Not until you tell me what you did to Miku." I motioned to the girl who was looking pretty loopy. She just smiled and looked around like she didn't know where she was or what she was doing.

Luki crossed his arms. "I don't know what you are talking about." He looked away. It was so obvious he was lying.

Well he wasn't going to tell me anytime soon. So I started thinking what happened leading to loopy Miku.

_"So they came in. All was normal. Miku went into the bathroom. Luki lights the candles…CANDLES!"_

I looked at the candles around the room. I pulled my mask down just below my nose. I took a sniff. There was a strong smell in the air. I could feel myself slipping into the same state as Miku. I pulled my mask back up.

"You know your powers are pretty cool but it's get really sad when a prince has to resort to those methods to get a girl." I smirked at the prince.

Luki scowled at me. "Silence! Miku has always loved me. She's just a little shy when showing any affection. So I just used a bit of magic," he summoned a flame on the tip of one of his fingers, "to push her into the right direction."

It was my turn to scowl at him. "You're sick, you know that?"

"And what are you going to do, ninja?" Luki asked, raising an eyebrow. "Miku's not going to believe whatever you say. She barely knows you."

He had a point but I didn't care. "That's true but right now I'm taking her back to her room and away from you." I got off the bed and picked Miku up in my arms.

"What?" It took him a couple of seconds to process that I was actually taking Miku away from him. "Get back here! Give me back Miku!"

I turned around abruptly, causing him to take a small step backwards. "I have no obligation to listen to you." I said coldly, giving him the most dangerous glare I could make.

His eyes widen. "Y-you're the same as-" I left the room before I heard him finish. I kicked the door shut and I felt the fire go out in his room.

_"Hmph, serves him right."_

Apparently the fire also went out in the hallways. So I walked in darkness only guided by the moonlight. Miku started hugging me with her arms around my neck, hanging onto my scarf. I felt my face get hot.

_"What are you doing, Luka? Why are you getting all flustered? Miku's not even her normal self."_

I shook my head, trying to calm down. Miku's mouth was next to my ear and she started saying some incoherent words. Whatever Luki did is going to leave Miku like this for a while. I thought if Miku gets away from his flames, then she would get better. But no, it seems she's going to stay under his spell for a little longer.

Honestly I had no idea where Miku's room was but I just kept on walking, hoping I didn't bump into anyone. I didn't thankfully. By the time I reached her room and placed Miku on her bed, my arms were aching. Miku wasn't heavy. I just carried her for a long time.

As I placed Miku down on her bed, Miku wouldn't let go of my neck. I put my arms on the bed behind to prop myself up.

"You need to let of me, princess. It's time to go to sleep." I laughed a bit. I felt like I was talking to a child. Miku mumbled some words.

"Speak up, princess. I can't hear you."

"I really like your laugh," she whispered, giggling. I blushed deeply. "I really like it, Luki."

Luki? I sighed. She thinks I'm Luki. I picked at my hair. Well we both have pink hair. But I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"Well I really like your laugh too," I whispered in her ear. It was the truth but she won't remember any of this anyway.

Miku pulled her face away, her arms still around my neck. She was smiling sweetly and blushing slightly. Though it was her eyes that caught my attention. I couldn't see her pupils. Just teal. She was definitely still under Luki's spell.

"You should get some sleep now."

"I want to keep talking," Miku said slowly.

It would be pointless to talk to her now. First of all, she thinks I'm Luki and I don't know what Luki knows. Secondly Miku's not going to remember anything anyway.

"There's always tomorrow," I offered.

Miku nodded and loosen her grip on me. I let out a quiet sigh of relief. I got off the bed and started heading for the door. I didn't get very far when I felt a slight tug on my scarf.

_"I was so close."_

"Wait." Miku said in a small voice. "Can you sleep with me?"

My face grew insanely hot. I don't know why but I also noticed that the flame on the nightstand grew brighter.

"I shouldn't." I said, still facing the door.

"And why not?" Miku asked. I could just imagine her pouting.

"Well because…I'm sick." I faked a cough. I hoped she would let me leave.

Of course she didn't. Instead she actually pulled me closer. She stared at my face.

"Wow you really are sick." She put a hand up against my face. The motion only made my face redder, which made Miku smile. "You're all red, Luki."

I mentally sighed. "I'll be fine, princess. I'll just sleep in my…uh…room."

Miku looked sad then a second later she perked up. "I have an idea. I heard if you're sick then the best way to cure yourself is to hold hands with someone close to you."

_"Where the heck did she hear that from? And what kind of spell is she under that makes her talk so much?"_

"Don't you remember, Luki?" Miku looked as though she was about to cry. I started panicking.

"No, no, no, no, no." I put my hands on her arms. "I remember but how about refreshing my memory."

Miku immediately stopped crying and cheered up. Sneaky girl. "Well when we were younger, you would always tell me that whenever you got sick."

_"Oh that sly prince."_

"I see but just for a little bit." Miku clapped and brought me onto the bed with her. She bent over her nightstand and blew the fire out. She turned around and noticed that I was on the opposite side of the bed from her. She gave me puzzled look. "You only said to hold hands."

Miku pouted but didn't say anything. She made herself comfortable under the blankets while I just laid on top of them. She held out her hand for me to take it. After a couple of seconds of more blushing, I took it. Her cool hand met with my probably hot hand because of all the emotions I was going through at the moment.

I heard Miku mutter some words. I assumed she was saying good night. "Good night, my princess."

After a few minutes, I could hear the soft and rhythmic breathing of Miku, signaling she had fallen asleep. I decided it was time for me to leave but I couldn't. Miku held tightly onto my hand, making me unable to escape.

I just laid back onto the bed and sighed deeply. Thinking over the day's events, I made one last thought before drifting off to sleep.

_"I still need to apologize to Miku."_

* * *

**Phew I got it done. **

**I would've gotten done a bit faster if they weren't so many distractions in my house. T.T**

**But oh well life goes on. XD**

**Here's a little piece of extra information: scented candles don't exist. Just putting this out there in case any of you get confused. **

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Forgive me for any mistakes.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_It was hot. Everything was burning. Everything was on fire. But I didn't feel a thing. No pain. Just relief._

_Charred bodies stretched across the red floor. Not a soul in sight. I was alone._

_The place was starting to crumble. I ran, trying to escape the burning hell. The more I ran the faster it fell apart and the hotter the flames burned._

_I felt like I was going in circles. I wasn't getting anywhere. If anything, I was getting deeper into the fire. _

_Then I came upon a dark room, devoid of the flames. I went further in until I saw a mirror. And the creature in it terrified me._

_It wasn't the disheveled hair, covered with dirt and blood. It wasn't the cuts and scars all over the frail body. It wasn't even the glowing red eyes. It was the flaming wings floating behind me. I turned and realized that they were my own. _

_Slowly, a dark hand appeared and covered my mouth. I closed my eyes and screamed._

* * *

"AHHHH!" I jolted awake and turned to where the noise came from.

It was Miku and she was underneath me and I was on top of her. I felt my face getting hot. I propped myself up onto my hands and knees. Her face was completely red and her fists were clenched, ready to punch me.

"Wait, wait, it's not-," that was as far as I was able to go. Miku pulled her legs up to her chest and kicked me in the stomach. I felt myself flying in the air for a couple of seconds and landed onto the floor across the room.

I groaned and rolled over. I moved my hand across my stomach. I felt her footmarks, her footmarks made out of ice. I rubbed it off and stood up, leaning on the wall for support. Miku sat up and glared at me. I shuddered.

"GET OUT!" she yelled, pointing at the door, which was behind me. When she pointed, a small, sharp icicle formed and shot itself towards the door, landing only inches from my head.

"Wait, do you remember-"

"GET OUT!" Another icicle came towards me. This time I had enough sense in me to dodge because if I didn't, it would've struck me in the shoulder.

I hurried out of the room. I slowly limped to the couch and collapsed on it, remembering the pain from being launched across the room by Miku.

"_I was not expecting her to do that. How did I even get in that position?" _

Then I remembered more unpleasant things.

"_That dream. Why do I have to remember all of that now?" _

A knock was heard from outside. I managed a "Come in." with my face still in the cushion of the couch and Leon entered the room. He sat in the chair next to me. I was still lying down and when it was silence for a minute, I sat up.

"So where were you yesterday?" I asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"I was sparring with a couple of the castle guards," he explained. That piqued my attention. I wanted to do some sparring too. "I also went to dinner with prince Luki and Princess Miku." That piqued my attention even more.

"Really?" I asked, surprised. Leon nodded. That's unfair that he was able to go and not me. "What did they talk about?"

This time he shook his head. "It is not any of your business. Nor mine. So please respect their privacy."

"_It's a bit late for that since I was snooping in Luki's room." _

"Ok, so where were you after dinner?" I asked. Leon raised a brow, as if wondering I was asking so many questions, but he just shrugged it off.

"In my room," he explained. "Princess Miku told me I could leave and that she wanted to speak with Prince Luki privately."

"_At least that explains the lack of guards last night." _That part didn't really matter so much. What mattered was what actually happened in the room. Just thinking about it made me all mad again. And I knew just what I needed to release all this anger.

"Hey, Leon?" I began. "The next time you go sparring, do you mind if I join you."

"Sure, I don't mind," he answered. I felt somewhat calmer.

Then Miku came out of her room. She wore a simple blue dress and had her hair up in twintails. When she came out, she didn't even look at me. It was obvious she was still mad at me, even her face was still red.

"Come along you two," Miku commanded. "Hiyama will be here soon to escort us to breakfast."

I pointed at myself. "Me too?" I asked. I thought that since she was mad at me, I won't be allowed to eat or something.

"Of course," she answered, still not looking at me. "But as for your punishment, you are to stand and watch while everyone else eats breakfast."

And I was right. That punishment was really cruel. Especially after she kicked me. She must've kicked me in a certain area that makes me hungrier than normal. I rubbed my stomach, dreading the upcoming events.

Someone knocked on the door and Hiyama entered. He bowed to Miku and led all of us towards the dining hall.

As the group walked in silence, I remembered that I would have to see Luki again. Anger welled up inside of me. Then a question popped up in my head.

_"Does Miku remember what happened? I don't think she does because if she did, then she wouldn't have kicked me. Right?"_

Because of my intense thinking, I didn't realize that everyone had stopped in front of a tall, red door. I almost bumped into Miku and she turned back, glaring at me. I put my hands up in defense and took a couple steps back, next to Leon.

Hiyama opened the door and motioned us inside. It was a big room, like all the other rooms in the castle. Windows lined up along one wall and doors along the other, which I assumed was the kitchen. In the middle of the room, there was a long table, covered in red cloth. It could seat about ten people. A large, glass chandelier hung over the center of the table.

Luki was already seated two seats from the end. His pink hair was combed back. He wore a prince attire of red and black. When he saw Miku enter, he smiled and stood up. But when I entered his view, he scowled at me. I glared back at him.

Luki greeted Miku and helped her to her seat, which was across him. He went back to his seat. There was another guard sitting next to Luki. He had short brown hair and a bulky body. Leon sat across from him, next to Miku.

Miku turned back to me. "Go and stand over there." She pointed to a dark corner.

_"What? Am I a little kid or something?"_

Luki snickered and I glared at him. He was working on my last nerve. But I just walked over to the corner with a low growl. I tried to make myself comfortable in the darkness.

The same doors we had entered from opened again, revealing the king and the queen. The king was tall and more muscular than Miku's dad. He had short pink hair and a clean-shaven face. He wore a king attire of silver and black with a fur cloak on his back. The queen had long, silky black hair parted on the side. She wore a long pink and white dress accompanied with jewel all over her.

They took their seats on both ends of the table. It seems that they hadn't noticed me I the corner. When they sat down, they greeted everyone. Then the queen snapped her fingers and the doors on the side of the room opened. Numerous of cooks rushed out with trays of food and drinks and placed them onto the table. They exited with the same swiftness.

The once barren table was now lavished with different kinds of food and drinks. It seemed like too much food for only six people. It would've been for seven if I weren't stuck in this corner. I saw that there was tuna again in every single dish. I found it a bit odd that they were served tuna for breakfast but I could feel myself drooling.

I noticed when Miku saw the plate of leeks, she immediately lit up and went for the dish. I also noticed Luki glaring at me every now and then. I could only glare back.

While the royals and guards were eating, they also chatted but in the weirdest way possible. The guards talked about weapons and training. Luki and Miku talked about their favorite pastimes. But as for the king and queen, instead of moving closer to each other, they talked from across the table, talking about who knows what. Soon all their conversations blended with each other and I lost track of it all. It amazed me how they were still able to keep their voices to a reasonable level and hadn't started yelling.

Eventually they all finished eating and the king stood up. "Luki, your mother and I will leave first. We have to attend a meeting but we shall find you later."

"Okay, father." Luki replied, nodding. With that, they left the room. Luki snapped his fingers in the air. The cooks came in again and this time they picked up all the dishes. A few seconds later, the table looked the same way as when we entered.

It was silence for a while then Luki stood up abruptly, pointing at me. "I challenge you to a duel, ninja!"

"What? Why?" I was surprised at the suddenness of his words.

"For what happened last night," he answered, angrily.

"What happened last night?" Miku asked, raising a brow at Luki.

"She…uh," he stammered as he tried to figured out what to say. "She pushed me over and then ran away with something of mine!"

Miku turned and glared at me. "Why did you do that?! What did you steal?!"

I hit my head with my hand. "No, it wasn't like that!"

_"Wait, did he just call Miku a thing?"_

"Then what happened?"

"Luki was-"

"Silence!" Luki yelled. He slammed his hand onto the table, burning the cloth into the shape of his hand. "Nothing you say will change anything!"

"Fine. I accept," I said, rolling my eyes. "I've been angry for some time now. A duel would be good for me."

"Perfect," Luki said with a devious smile. "Let us go then."

Miku was clearly confused but she didn't say anything and just followed along. Luki dismissed the guards and the three of us walked in silence. After a few minutes, Luki stopped in front of a large metal door and went in.

It was a really large room. Windows lined up along the tops of three of the walls. On the back wall, there were weapons of all kinds hanging. On the left half of the room, there was a mini obstacle course with the ropes and dummies. On the right half, a large mat covered the ground.

Luki got onto the mat. "Hurry and let's start." He did a couple of arm stretches.

I walked over to the mat while Miku sat on a bench on the wall. "Is this going to be hand-to-hand only?" I did some stretches too so I looked like I knew what I was doing.

Luki thought for a moment. "No. We can use weapons. That way it'll be more…fun." He gave another evil smile. I had a feeling he was hiding something.

He put his hand over the hilt of his hand that was attached to his waist. He took it out of its sheath, revealing no blade, just a hole of where the blade should be. I tilted my head and raised a brow. I saw his smile getting wider.

Suddenly fire came out of the hole. I jaw dropped as I saw the burning flames.

_"What the tuna?! What kind of sword is that?!"_

Luki laughed. "Ha, priceless. It would've been better if you didn't wear a mask but no matter." He twirled the sword in his hand. " I got this custom made just for me. It transfers the energy from my hand to the sword and…" He held the sword up and the flames grew bigger.

"Pssh, you're going to more than just a flame to beat me."

He shrugged. "If so, that won't be a problem." He gave me another wicked smile.

_"He needs to stop doing that. It's so annoying!"_

Luki put up his hand at me and beckoned to attack first. I was never the best at close combat so I quickly threw a dagger at his head. He brought his sword up and blocked my attack. But instead of deflecting it and hitting it elsewhere like a normal sword, his fire sword literally incinerated my dagger upon contact.

I gulped, hard. I was going to need to use the weapons wisely.

"That was pathetic, ninja," he said, putting his sword down. "But now it's my turn."

He pointed his sword at me. I expected the fire shooting straight towards me but instead the fire lengthened and divided itself into eight tentacles. Each one looked like it had a mind of its own. They whole thing looked like an octopus on fire.

Then they all started attacking me. I could only dodge. How was I supposed to fight a living fire? My weapons are useless and I don't think punching or kicking would help. Dodging eight tentacles was really difficult. It didn't help when a small blade harden at the ends of each one. It was a bit easier to deflect actual blades than to deflect flames but I could not escape the fact that there were too many of them. I could flip and duck all I wanted only to find another coming at me in the opposite direction.

All while dodging the flames, I tried looking for a weak point in Luki's defense. The first dagger I threw caught him off guard and it made a long cut on his cheek. Needless to say that was the only successful attempt I made. After that, he basically made a wall of fire around him, making it next to impossible to hurt him again.

"_Crap, I should've thrown the poison dagger." _

While flipping in the air dodging a tentacle for the nth time, one actually got smart and wrapped itself around my ankle. It burned so much that I was pretty sure it was going to leave a huge scar. It flailed me around before throwing me across the room.

I landed on the wall upside down. I managed to peel myself off the wall and fell on top a rack of weapon. Thankfully they were the blunt weapons so I only suffered more bruises. I looked up and saw the mark I left on the wall in the shape of my body.

I stayed on the ground, exhausted. After getting cut, stabbed, and even thrown, I lost the energy to keep fighting or dodging, based on what I was actually doing.

Every time a blade had pierced me, it always left a burning sensation. I had cuts all over my body. I was stabbed once in my leg and twice in my stomach. I pressed my hand onto my stomach to slow the bleeding.

Back over on the mat, the tentacles merged together and shrunk back to its original size. It harden into a normal-sized blade. Luki walked over to me. He threw his red sword into the ground and crouched down.

"You will never win," he whispered. He stood up and kicked me onto another rack of weapons. Thankfully they were still blunt but the next time it wouldn't be.

The wounds on my stomach widen which hurt like crazy. A large hammer was pinned on top of my legs. So I couldn't move.

"You play dirty," I managed, trying to keep as much as I can inside of my body. "You have all the advantages."

"Oh did I forget to say that anything goes?" He asked with fake innocence. "Oh well. In this world, it's the survival of the fittest." He looked down at me with an evil look.

"More like survival of the lowest," I said. I knew it was a weak comeback but I was starting to lose conscious. "You're so pathetic."

He grabbed my scarf in anger and threw me back onto the mat. I groaned as I hit the ground again.

I sat up. "How many girls have you gotten doing what you did last night?" I asked Luki as he walked towards me with his sword in hand.

"That doesn't matter!"

"_Well he didn't deny it." _

He swung his sword at me. Luckily it was still in its blade form so I was able to somewhat redirect it away from me. Unfortunately I also lost my grip of the dagger and it flew across the room.

Luki seemed unfazed by the fact I had blocked his attack and just pointed at me with his other hand. "What about you? Since Miku was in such a vulnerable state, you could have done something bad to her."

"And why would I do something like that to her?" I asked, perplexed. The thought never crossed my mind. I was too worried about a bunch of other things.

"I've seen how you look at her. It's the same way she looks at me."

"_I look at her in that way?" _

I don't even know how I feel about her. Sure, she's pretty but she's always mean to me.

Suddenly water blurred my vision and started suffocating me. I felt my hands and feet being restrained by…ice? I couldn't move them, just the rest of my body which I did until I figured out what was happening. The excessive movements only made me need to breath more. So I stopped and tried to calm my nerves.

Then the water fell and I coughed up water, which was quite hard to do since I had my mask on. But I was able to breathe again. I saw my hands and feet were indeed covered in ice. I looked down and realized that I was like ten feet in the air. I was being held up by four columns of ice, which also happen to be connected to my hands and feet.

Luki was next to me in the same condition except he was still being lifted up to the same level as me. Floating his head was an orb of water. He made small movements in efforts to escape. When he was at the same height as me, the orb of water fell onto his chest and Luki gasped for air.

We made eye contact and we knew we were thinking about the same thing. What just happened? Then something on the ground caught our attention.

It was Miku.

_"Oh my god. I totally forgot she was in the room."_

I couldn't see her face but I did see her almost white fists. At her feet, there was water circling around. As it circled faster, Miku started floating upsides until she was about a foot above Luki and I. There was a mini tornado of water that held her up in the air.

At this point, Luki and I were able to see her face. Her teal eyes were glowing with anger. I felt the ice squeeze a bit. I was almost afraid that I was going to lose my hands and feet.

Miku turned to Luki and he flinched when he looked into her eyes. He was also shivering and I realize he's been shivering for a while. He shouldn't be that cold. Ice was only on his hands and feet.

Then it hit me. Ice must be his weakness. But why was Miku his fiancé? They're complete opposite. I guess opposites do attract, though I wish they didn't.

"What was Luka talking about?" Miku demanded, pointing at me. An icicle came out of her finger shot towards my head. Luckily I leaned my head back in time or I would've lost an eye. "What happened last night?" She grabbed his shirt and ice started forming.

"I-I don't k-know what she's t-talking about," Luki stammered. He stared down at the ice on his shirt with a scared look. "Don't y-you r-remember what happened?"

"If I remembered, then I wouldn't be asking you," Miku snapped back. Seeing how the ice started crawling up Luki's arms and legs, I had a feeling Miku was getting angrier with him. He was obviously scared for his life but he still refused to tell the truth.

"_Stubborn prince! Hurry and tell the truth so the both of us can get out of this." _

"Well, what do you remember, princess?" I immediately regretted saying that. Miku turned and glared at me. The ice was now crawling up my arms and legs.

"Well, _reject_," she said, venomously. I let that one slide. "All I remember is that we finished dinner and went up to his room. I went to the bathroom and the next I know is I wake in my bed next to YOU!" She pointed at me and another icicle came out. But she was too close to me so I was only able moved quickly enough for it to not completely stab me in the face. So I only received a cut to the cheek.

"But it wasn't like that," I defended. "Do you know why you don't remember anything after you got out of the bathroom? It's because of what Luki did." I leaned my head towards him since I couldn't point at him.

Miku turned back to him. "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing," Luki said a bit too quickly, causing Miku to hose him with water to the face. When she stopped, he coughing up water and gasping for air.

"What did you do to me?" she repeated.

"You know I would never hurt you," he said with pleading eyes. "It was just a small kiss."

I scoffed, causing both to look at me. "If I wasn't there, you would've done more than just a kiss."

"You followed us?" Miku asked, angrily.

"She did follow us," Luki added. "She said so herself."

"_Crap, I did say that." _

"I was lying that time." I explained.

"Then how did you get into my room?!"

"Why wasn't your door locked in the first place?!"

"You broke into my room?!"

"It's not called breaking in if the door was never locked!"

"Why are you snooping around the castle?!"

"Why aren't there any guards to stop me?!"

"SHUT UP!" Miku shrieked. She fell to her knees and put her head into her hands. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"

The ice now covered our bodies completely except for our heads. It was slowly creeping upwards. Luki was about to have a nervous breakdown and started hyperventilating. It was petty sad to see him in such a state. Miku, still floating on her mini water tornado, looked like she was having an internal struggle. Probably on whom she can trust: her lying childhood friend or her unknown ninja escort.

Miku put up her head and screamed up to the ceiling. It was a loud, ear-splitting scream. I'm pretty sure the whole castle heard it.

All of a sudden, the ice shattered and we fell to the ground. While Luki and I dropped ten feet and landed painfully onto the ground, Miku slowly descended and her mini tornado turned into a large puddle. She collapsed on top of the puddle and fainted from the excessive use of her powers.

Luki had landed on his stomach and looked over at Miku's limp body. "Miku…I'm sorry…" He reached out his hand in effort to grab a hold of Miku's hand but he fell short when he too fainted.

I got up on my knees and rubbed my head. My arms and hands were blue from the freezing ice but they were slowly returning to its original color. I looked at the sight before me and sighed.

_"What am I supposed to do now?"_

Just as I managed to get myself on my feet, the doors burst open.

"Miku, Luki, are you o-WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!" The king yelled. He was with the queen and both were panting as if they ran here. Guards flooded into the room. Before I even had time to react, the king sprinted and tackled me to the ground.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" He put both his hands around my neck, choking me. My neck started burning in pain.

I tried prying his hands off of my neck but I had no energy left. I couldn't even manage a stutter. His hold on me became tighter and my vision was getting darker.

"Stop it!" It was the queen. The hands loosen and I gasped for air. "This is not how to handle situations like this."

"But she killed our son and Miku!"

"No, they are still alive," she explained. "They are just unconscious."

The king just scowled and grunted. He grabbed my scarf and lifted me off the ground. Then he threw me out of the room onto the wall in the hallway.

"Guards! Take the ninja to the dungeon!" commanded the king.

I slumped onto the ground and everything went dark.

* * *

**So I literally started typing this yesterday but I was planning this the whole week. So it's not that bad...**

**Anyways I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Forgive me for any mistakes.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"_To think you escaped. To think you survived!"_

_I felt the cool blade sliding down my back. It wasn't piercing me. At least not yet. They were taunting me._

"_You even found people to talk to. But I bet they don't even know the truth about you yet."_

_I didn't move. The tip of the knife moved to the top of my back. It stayed still._

"_Oh, who were they again? They're the green one and the twins, right?"_

_My body stiffen and I clenched my fists. I wanted to say something but nothing came out. I was too sore to move._

"_Ohoho, I was right! But you shouldn't worry about them. You should worry more about yourself."_

_The blade slowly trailed down back again but this time it was cutting into my skin. I felt my warm blood move down my back. It was slow torture._

"_Because the worst has yet to come."_

* * *

I opened my eyes. I saw nothing. Literally. I thought I was dead but I could feel the slow beat of my heart.

I was sitting up against a wall with my arms chained to the side of me. I also wasn't wearing my ninja suit but instead a bunch of dirty rags that were a bit too big on me. It covered my legs and torso but not my arms. Plus my feet were bare. I also noticed my hair fell down beside my face.

Soon my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I was in the middle of a small cell.

_"Oh yeah. The king sent me to the dungeon. Stupid king! He shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I'm innocent!"_

I looked around and saw no windows. I started to get that nervous feeling that I'd get whenever I was underground. I never liked being underground. It was like being buried alive. I shuddered.

Apparently when I shuddered, I made a small noise of my chains clanging. As small as it sounded, it seemed to really echo. Moments later, I heard footsteps.

A figure approached with a candle in one hand. I squinted at the brightness. As my eyes adjusted for the second time, I saw the queen standing on the other side of the bars. Needless to say, I was deeply confused.

"It seems you have finally woken up."

My eyes widen in shock. It was that voice. The same voice from before. That means…

"That wasn't a dream?"

At that exact second, that wound on my back screamed in pain. It felt like it had just reopened itself. I winced at the sudden pain.

"Silly girl," the queen laughed. "Of course, it wasn't."

The queen was wearing a white dress with black flowers around her waist and on the ends of her dress. She also wore long white gloves. Even though the dungeon was dirty and mucky, she happened to stay clean. I had an uneasy feeling about this women.

"Why is a queen like you even down here? Wait, were you the one who cut my back?" I asked. I started struggling and making more noise. "Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?"

The queen sighed. "You are the cause of all my problems. Though it seems you have forgotten everything." She looked away and whispered, "But a mother never forgets." My fists clenched and gritted her teeth. "No matter how hard she try."

I sat still. My mouth fell and eyes widen. She just told me a huge secret while at the same time throwing an insult at me. It was all so confusing. My brain couldn't wrap itself around all the surprises I'm getting right now.

"But it is no matter whether you remember or not," she continued. "You shall be dealt with the same either way." She turned and started to walk away.

That got me angry. "No matter?!" I fumed. I tried to free myself from these chains just to show my 'mom' a piece of my mind. "This is a huge matter! Get back here!"

I couldn't believe what she was saying. How could she be so mean to me? Her own daughter! I still couldn't believe it. But if it was, then why was she so cruel? I was curious on what I did to her in the past. I couldn't remember anything. I've been an orphan for as long as I know. The thought of my family would cross my mind often. But now that I know my family were these kinds of people, I wouldn't mind being an orphan again.

All these emotions filled my mind. Curiosity, confusion, and anger. Though right now, I was feeling immensely angry. I kept pulling at the chains, making plenty of noise.

The queen turned and gave me a glare full of irritation and contempt. I returned the glare with equal rage. I didn't notice a guard come into the cell. They jabbed me in my stomach with the hilt of their sword.

My vision started getting dark. In anger, I gathered all the strength I had left and kicked the guard's legs, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. Another guard rushed in and punched me on the side of my head.

I fell unconscious.

**Miku's POV**

I rolled over onto my sides. I opened my eyes, slowly.

_"Where am I?"_

I narrowed my eyes at the bright coming from the windows. I sat up slowly, rubbing my head. I loved the coolness of my hand. My body temperature was always cooler than others. I loved that part of me in the summers. I would never sweat which made my job as a princess a bit easier.

But winters were a different matter. I would always be freezing cold. I'd have to wear so many more layers of clothing. It was so uncomfortable to move around. I never enjoyed fire that much because of a small past incident. But I don't like thinking about it so much.

I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was in the infirmary and on a white bed. A number of beds lined up along the walls with white curtains between every other bed. Luki was on the bed next to me, still resting. The king was sitting on a chair between us. He was staring at Luki with worry.

He noticed me sitting up and stood up, turning towards me.

"I am glad you are awake and doing fine, Miku." The king smiled warmly. He gestured to a cup of water on the table beside me. "Drink some water. I know how it helps you."

I nodded and took a sip of the cold water. The king really knows his stuff. The cold liquid revived me. I felt so much better. Water was always a great help when I would finish training or at the end of a busy day of telling people what to do.

I put the cup back down onto the table. "So, what happened, King Megurine?" I asked. My memory was still a bit fuzzy.

He looked at Luki then back to Miku with a worried expression. "I was hoping you could tell me. An hour ago, we came and saw you and Luki passed out on the ground with a ninja standing over you two." I heard a hint of anger in his voice but I could tell he was trying to best to hide it.

"Ninja? Oh, you mean Luka? She's my bodyguard." _"What was Luka doing?" _

"Luka?!" The king exclaimed in surprise. His sudden exclamation surprised me too, making me lean slightly away from him.

He realized what he did and cleared his throat, trying to return to his calm composure. "Sorry for that. So she was only your bodyguard. But that still doesn't explain why you and Luki were on the ground unconscious."

He looked at me, as if he wanted me to tell him what actually happened. I could only give him an apologetic look.

"I see," he said, sadly. Though almost immediately he looked a bit uneasy, shifting from one foot to the other and not looking me in the eyes. "Well, I have to get going soon. Can you look after Luki until he wakes up?"

I nodded. The king smiles and quickly leaves the room.

I look over to where Luki was sleeping soundly. I noticed the small bandage on his cheek.

_"What happened?"_

I closed my eyes and tried to remember the events an hour ago. Slowly my memories came back to me.

Breakfast. Luki's challenge. To the training room. Sitting on the sidelines. The firefight. Then…me.

I remembered the extended use of my powers and I got tired again. I took a gulp of water and felt somewhat better. I've never used that much power at once. It was kind of scary of what was actually hiding inside of me.

I thought back to why I even applied myself so much. Luka and Luki were both talking about what happened last night. I couldn't even remember what happened last night after dinner. I go into his bathroom and wake up in bed with Luka. One couldn't even imagine my confusion and EMBARASSMENT! Kicking her was just on instinct.

i took a deep breath. On more important matters, last night with my memory tear wasn't the first time it happened. I always assumed I was just me and I was getting forgetful. But now there was another witness and someone else involved, even if that person was Luka.

_"Wait, Luka! Where is she?"_

I looked around the infirmary and didn't see the pink-haired ninja. If I remembered correctly, Luka was beaten up pretty badly by Luki. Also in addition, she was dropped about ten feet from the air by me.

I would've assumed she was taken somewhere to be treated. But from how the king was acting, I was starting to doubt that.

Though Luka seemed to take my ice entombment a lot better than Luki. He looked scared to death. It made sense since when he was younger, he fell in a frozen lake and almost drowned from the coldness. He was in a state of shock for weeks.

I hoped that if I used his weakness against him, he would talk but he kept being stubborn. I swear he's going to get himself in trouble because of that.

I got out of the bed and stood beside Luki. I stared at him, thinking about the past when everything was so much easier. Then it got all complicated two years ago when our parents told us about our powers.

**Flashback**

I was fifteen. I had just left the throne room where my parents had told me about my special abilities. They said I would start training tomorrow. It was quite overwhelming that I would be starting so soon but I was feeling a bit excited about it all.

I walked to my room and fell onto my bed, closing my eyes. I was glad I was told this news at the end of the day. I don't know what I would've done if they told in the morning.

My eyes weren't closed for a minute when I heard a knock on the door. It was from the door that led to my small backyard. I pulled back the curtain and saw Luki's smiling face. I opened the door and invited him in.

"Hey Miku!" He hugged me and I felt myself blushing slightly. "Did your parents tell you yet?"

"Yeah, they just did."

"Isn't this great?" Luki cried in excitement. "Now we can be better rulers. We'll be like superheroes!" He put his arms in the air, intimating a superhero.

I chuckled. "Yeah, it's very exciting. I start training tomorrow."

Luki looked at me with awe and jealousy. "Ah really? My mom says I have to finish all my diplomatic lessons first," he whined.

"Well, you shouldn't have been skipping those classes," I pointed out, smiling.

"I know but they're so boring. All I want to do fight and get stronger."

"You can't rule a kingdom with just brute strength."

"I knooooow." Luki hung his head then looked up at me. It was silent for a moment before the both of us burst out laughing.

"So was that all you wanted to tell me?" I asked.

"Yep," Luki replied with a smile.

"Was is so necessary to come all the way to Saki Kingdom to tell me that? You could have sent a messenger bird or something."

Luki took my hands in his. They were warm. "That's boring. And plus I get to see you again." He gave me a toothy grin. I was getting immensely hot in my cheeks.

A knock was heard on the door. A maid came in. "Dinner will be rea-Oh!" she blushed and bowed deeply. "I apologize, Your Highness. Dinner will be ready soon." She bowed again and rushed out of the room.

Luki chuckled. "Well I guess that's my cue to leave." He bowed and kissed the top of my hand. "I hope to see you again soon."

**Flashback end**

I sighed, sitting in the chair the king had sat in a few minutes ago.

That was the last time I saw Luki all sweet and nice. He was still sweet and nice but in a different way. I didn't notice the change right away. It was more of a gradual thing.

His new abilities changed him. Of course when he was in front of his subjects, he held himself up with class and talked with authority. But when he was out of the public eye, he acted more reckless and rash. The power was starting to go to his head.

I heard rumors that his dad was getting weaker and sicker. I would've never known. The king had acted completely fine this morning.

If those rumors were true, then it made more sense that Luki was getting more pressure. Even though we're the same age, he was under so much more stress in getting ready to be the new king.

I always imagined Luki as more of a general of an army than a diplomatic king. He always liked using his fists more than his brains. That's why he excelled in combat. After only two years of training, Luki was able to summon huge flames and manipulate them to do his biddings.

I, on the other hand, was a bit more reluctant.

**Another Flashback**

"One more time, Miku!" Sonika commanded.

I was tired. I've been training nonstop for six hours. My hands and brain hurt. I was currently trying to move the water from one cup to another. Sonika said I could use any means necessary to do so except by pouring the water into the other cup.

It was a lot harder than I first thought. I tried staring at the cup, focusing my power to make the water move. No luck. Then I use my hands, straining them around the cup, hoping to get some sort of movement from the water. No luck either.

It has been a week since I was told about my new powers. Sadly, I wasn't making much progress. Actually none at all. It just doesn't come to me easily. It was quite frustrating but it frustrated Sonika more.

Sonika was my tutor. Apparently she trained many other royals and she was highly praised on how well she teaches. But I wasn't getting anywhere. I was like her worst nightmare. No matter what method she used, I couldn't do the assignment.

"Come on, Miku!" Sonika yelled, hitting her baton on the table. "One more time! Try harder!"

I could tell she was getting angrier by the second, which only made me angrier too. "Can't you see that I am trying!" I yelled back.

"You're not trying hard enough!"

"Maybe that's because I've been at this for hours, days! And pressuring me isn't helping me either!" I complained.

"You're a princess. This kind of pressuring shouldn't bother you in the slightest." Sonika pointed out.

"Well, I'm sorry for being different!" Most people in my kingdom knew how I was when I get pressuring. So they learned to be patient with me, which I'm thankful for. Unfortunately, Sonika was not from here.

"Life is only going to get harder! So suck this up and move the fucking water!" Sonika shouted, motioning to the cup.

"NO! I'm tired and I want to stop!" I closed my eyes.

"Maybe you just don't want this bad enough!"

I threw my arms down to my side in irritation, my eyes still closed. "You're right! Maybe I don't want this anymore!"

She didn't say anything. It was silent for a bit too long. The air was cold, almost freezing.

I opened my eyes.

The whole room was covered in ice. The bookshelves. The desk. The water. Even Sonika.

I just stood there in shock, still trying to take everything in. Then I realized I was the one who froze everything.

"_How did I do this? I couldn't even move water into another cup." _

I looked at Sonika, tears threatening to come out. One hand was pointing towards the water cup and the other was pointing at me. Her face was still looking at me with a stern look. She never knew what hit her.

"Sonika," I pleaded. "Please be okay. I'm sorry. I'll try harder. I'll get it right next time." Tears came flooding down my face. "Please, just come back to normal."

I shook her shoulder, hoping Sonika would magically unfreeze and return to normal. But that wasn't the case. She was like an ice statue. When I touched her, she immediately tipped over and shattered.

**Flashback end**

I had closed my eyes. After that incident, I didn't leave my room for days. I became more reluctant when training. I got more patient tutors after Sonika. We went at a snails pace. But it was for the better.

"_I'm glad no one died this time." _

I opened my eyes and looked out the windows. I had a partial view of the ocean. It was calm with only a few waves.

I loved watching the ocean. I always felt at peace. To me, the ocean would be greatest perk for whenever I have to marry Luki.

Sure I'll have Luki. Did I love him? I did two years ago. Do I still love him? I wasn't sure. Recently things have been more complicated and I wasn't sure of my feelings anymore.

But I was sure about one thing. Luki wasn't the same kid from two years ago and neither was I.

I heard the door open and I turned around.

It was Leon and Big Al, who was the one who sat next to Luki during breakfast. Big Al was definitely big as in muscular. He was bigger than Leon and about a foot taller. He had a large metal hammer strapped to his back while Leon had his lance on his back. Once they came in front of me, they both bowed.

"I am relieve to see you up and doing well, Your Highness," Leon said as he got up.

I looked around them for my other guard. "Where is Luka?" I asked. I thought she was going to be with them but I guess not.

Leon looked down at the ground a bit. Big Al scratched his head. "Luka? Who's Luka?" Al asked. Then he pointed his finger in the air. "Oh! You mean the ninja? She's been sent to the dungeon."

I looked at with disbelief. "What? Why? She didn't do anything."

Leon bows again, a bit deeper. "I am deeply sorry. I should've been there. I could've done something. I could've-"

"No," I interrupted, shaking my head. "You were only following orders."

I motioned Leon to get up. He still had a regretful look on him. I gave him a reassuring smile. He just nodded.

If anyone were at fault, it would most likely be Luki. I looked over at the sleeping prince. I sighed lightly. There's not much we could do if he's still sleeping.

There was a moment of silence. The two guards looked at each other as though they were speaking with their eyes. It was like the guards had their own different language.

Another awkward moment of silence ticked by. I looked out the windows, trying to keep myself occupied. I would never talked to guards much. If I did, it was mainly for giving orders or obtaining information. They were only doing their jobs, serving and protecting the royal families.

Leon cleared his throat, making my head turn to him. "Your Highness?" He spoke up. "Would you like to go to where Luka is being held?"

"Of course!" I said a bit too quickly and loud. Both Leon and Al raised an eyebrow at me. I waved my hands in front of me. "No I didn't mean it like! Wait, I mean I do want to see her b-but not like that."

I felt my face getting red as I tried to organize my words correctly. I turned my head to the side, trying to hide my blush. Though I had a feeling they already saw it.

_"Why am I getting all flustered for?"_

Leon chuckled lightly while Al laughed loudly. Al patted Leon back. "Haha, you were right, Leon. The princess has changed." He laughed again.

I was my turn to be surprised. I got curious and wanted to know what Leon said to Al. I opened my mouth about to say something but Leon spoke up first.

"Okay, I think that's enough, Al." Leon swiped Al's hand away and looked at me. "Are you ready to leave now, Your Highness?"

I looked at Luki.

"You don't have to worry about the prince," Al said, reading my mind. "I'll watch over him for you. I'm sue Leon knows where to go."

I nodded and followed Leon out the infirmary.

"So, Leon," I began.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Please elaborate on what Al said about me changing." I was curious on how they thought I had changed. I don't feel any different except…

"Usually when we visit other kingdom, you constantly scold the guards for not doing their jobs," Leon explained.

"That's not my fault," I defended. "They shouldn't have been sleeping on the job."

"You made them stay awake all night," Leon pointed out. "They never got a break."

"That does not matter. It's their job." I crossed my arms. I am not to blame for their laziness.

"That's true but it's different when you're with Luka."

I raised a brow and looked at him puzzled. "What do you mean? When she was in my-," I couldn't tell Leon what actually happened. "I mean when she was sleeping on the job, I did more than just scold her."

"Was that this morning?"

I nodded. Leon stifled a laugh.

"You must've really hit her good. When I saw her on the couch, I almost thought she was dead."

"Serves her right," I huffed. "Wait, you never told me how I changed."

"I did. It's Luka."

"How can that be? I've only known her three days."

Leon stayed silent for a second. "Just think about it," was all he said.

Think about it? Honestly I didn't want to think about anything. If I did, everything would get more complicated. I just wanted to go back to my room and lie in bed and eat leeks all day. But of course as a princess, I can't even do that. As a princess, I have to fetch my ninja escort/bodyguard and save her from any impending punishments.

"I don't have to think about stuff for things to get complicated. Luka does that fine all on her own."

I sighed at the hassle I have to go through for some lowly ninja.

**Luka's POV**

"Ughh," I moaned, as I cracked my eyes open. The bruise on my stomach and face burned in pained. "Ughhhh."

_"At least I didn't have another nightmare."_

I was in another dark room but it was different this time. And how'd I know this? Well for starters, I didn't see the walls. Or the floor for that matter, just a dark pit. Is Hell down there? I didn't want to find out.

I was dangling from the ceiling while being chained all around my torso. It was a lot colder in whatever room I was imprisoned in. My bare feet and the freezing metal chained against my bare arms didn't help me get any warmer.

I started kicking my feet, which caused me to spin around. I thought if I struggled enough, I'd break free and fall…oh…ok maybe I should stop moving so much.

"Ah, you're awake so soon," a mechanical-like voice said, giggling. "And you're quite the feisty one, too."

I looked around the darkness, trying to narrow down where the voice was coming from. But I couldn't. It was like the voice was echoing itself everywhere therefore I couldn't pinpoint the source.

"Where are you?! Who are you?! Where am I?!" I shouted each question in a different direction.

"Since you are going to die soon enough, I guess it won't matter if you know you know my name or not," The voice reasoned with itself, "My name is Teto. I am your torturer."

And with that, I started falling.

* * *

**Ok this chapter was sort of all over the place. **

**I didn't expect the change of POV but I needed it for the flow. I also didn't expect the first flashback so I hope the transition was decent enough.**

**Dang this chapter caught me so off guard XD**

**If you guys spot any discontinuities in the story or have any questions, don't be afraid to tell/ask me. This story is kind of going off course of what I had originally planned. Plus this chapter can get a bit confusing so please ask any questions if you are confused. So sorry T^T**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter (though if you got this far, it'd mean you did enjoy this, right?) XD**

**Forgive me for any mistakes.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok I have a feeling I lost some of you last chapter. Hopefully you came back to read the excuse-er, I mean explanation I have. **

**So I just finished my English class and I just had to have the hardest teacher in that school. We analyzed everything! We went so in-depth in the books we've read and wrote so many hard essays. T^T So I guess writing indirectly just snuck its way into this story. I see things now in such different ways. It's kind of scary. -_-**

**But school is over now and hopefully I will write more...directly (is that the right word?). ****XD**

**Anyways enjoy this new chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

I've lost count. I can't remember how many times I've been dunked in the water. The. Freezing. Cold. Water.

I just got pulled up from the icy water after staying for about a minute. A minute's not long but after like a hundred times, it starts to hurt the lungs…and everywhere else. I coughed up some water and shivered violently. Even after being soaked over and over, I still couldn't get use to the coldness.

Teto was a smart torturer. When she dropped me into the water, she would wait until I was about to pass out to pull me back up. And right when I caught my breath, she would drop me back down. I don't know how she does it but she definitely had a lot of experience in this field.

I shivered again and even sneezed. I really didn't want it go under again. I have had enough water being consumed. Forcefully. I was starting to get really sick of water.

_"Speaking of water, I wonder if Miku is okay."_

Wait. Why did I even think about that? In my situation, I should be more worried about myself. So of course Miku would be fine. I shouldn't have to worry about her…

"You're no fun." Teto stated, snapping me out of my thoughts. She sounded bored. "All you do is cough. Others would have at least started crying or have some kind of breakdown. Some would even-"

"Shut up!" I yelled at the darkness. Yes, I was still hanging in the dark. "What's the point of this anyway? You didn't even ask me any questions."

What kind of torturer doesn't ask any questions and just starts the torture? A very sadistic one.

"Oh I won't be the one asking the questions," Teto replied. "My job is to break you. But you are making my job very hard. Maybe I should take more drastic measures." She sounded like she was contemplating other means of breaking me. But I was already getting tired of all of this and wanted some answers.

"Why don't you reveal yourself?" I asked in frustration. "Or at least tell me where I am. If I'm going to die, then I want to know where I die and who by," I reasoned. I had no intentions of dying but I needed to sound…desperate. Which wasn't that hard considering I was freezing to death and probably deep underground.

"Hmmm," Teto hummed. "Very well. You shall get your answers since you are a very special person, according to the Queen."

"_The Queen?"_ I was confused at first then I got angry. _"THE QUEEN!"_

My anger was short-lived when suddenly everything lit up.

Torches burned alive around the room. It was a square room of metal. I was hanging in the middle of it over the dark waters. Overall, I was being held in a box.

There was a window in the wall in front of me. Well it was more like an opening than a window. On the other side was a long room filled with…other torture devices and they looked pretty painful.

I took a small gulp. _"Maybe my current predicament isn't so bad." _

On one end of the long room, Teto stood next to a wall covered with countless of levers. She wore a tight, black outfit. She definitely looked her part as an expert torturer. She had her red hair up in twintails, which were in the shape of…drills?

I bit my tongue to keep myself from giggling. I know if I did, she would leave under the water longer. Teto just gave me a feeling that if I made fun of her hair, she wouldn't hesitate to kill me. I bit my tongue harder.

I must've been making a weird face because Teto raised a brow at me. "You look uglier than when I first saw you," she remarked rudely.

I stopped biting my tongue and pretended to flip my wet hair. "Well I'm sorry for not being up to your standards," I joked. "Why don't you let me out and I'll go freshen up for you?" I winked and gave her a charming smile, which I failed at because my face was still numb from the water.

Teto snickered. "It amazes me how you can still joke around like that considering the circumstances."

"Why thank you. I like trying to make the best of what I got." That much was true but now it was time to focus on the matter at hand. "So will you tell me where we are?"

Instead of getting the answer i had hoped for, I got a lungful of cold water. Usually a person would just float on the surface and that would've worked in my favor but I had the weight of a bunch chains around me so I kept on sinking. I tried staying calm and still but the fall caught me off guard. So there was already water in my mouth, nose, and lungs. And it all hurt so bad. I was reaching my limit too soon.

Then I felt a tug and ascended from the water. The moment I hit the surface, I started coughing up all the unwanted liquid from my body. I groaned and glared angrily at Teto, who was just laughing against the wall.

"What the heck was that for?!" I screamed with my fists clenched.

Teto calmed down a bit and shrugged. "It's my job," she said nonchalantly. "I need a little bit of fun."

"What part of this is fun?" I sneered. I felt myself warming up a bit.

"Obviously not for you," she said, pointing at me. "But I," she put her hand on her chest, "get the pleasure of seeing your horrified face every time I pull you up."

I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. No matter how much this girl was pissing me off I still needed to know where I am. I opened my eyes and looked at Teto with a determined look.

"Will you _please_ tell me where I am?" I asked in my most persuasive tone.

Teto blinked then brought her hand to her chin. She stayed silent and looked around the room.

"_What is she doing? I asked a simple question." _

"Ok," Teto finally spoke up. "We're still in Asakawa Kingdom. We're actually beneath it. I think 50 feet, maybe more."

"_Shit." _I shuddered again and it wasn't from the water.

Teto saw my reaction and smirked. "Oh this is going to be interesting. But first, I have to escort a special guest. I'm sure you'll be quite excited." Then she left out the door behind her.

_"Escort? Who is she escorting? Dammit! It's because of this whole escorting job I'm stuck in this situation in the first place. __Note to self if I ever make it out alive: Never escort anyone ever again."_

After I finished mumbling in frustration, I looked at the empty room that Teto had just left from. Then I looked up at the single chain, connecting me to the ceiling.

I smiled in glee for I just got an idea.

**Miku's POV**

The walk to the dungeon was long and silent. I didn't mind the silent. It allowed me to clear my mind and focus on some stuff. But the walk was a bit time-consuming. I think we've been walking for about 15 minutes. So many darn hallways and stairs.

I'm afraid to admit but Luki's castle might be bigger than mine. After I get back home, I'm going to have a little chat with my parents.

Leon and I went down more stairs and I instantly knew it was the dungeon. It was dark and mucky and smelled horrible.

We walked past a few cells and doors when we heard voices around the corner. I motioned Leon to stop walking and we stayed out of sight. I don't know why I did that but…

"Where did she go?" a familiar deep voice asked. After a few seconds of quick thinking, I realized it was the king. Why did he come down here?

"She is in her rightful place," a feminine voice answered. I assumed it was the queen. I wondered who they were talking about. "We finally got her. She must be dealt with."

"How can you say that?" The king sounded a bit angry. "She's our own-"

At that moment, a rat scurried between my feet. "EEEK!" I squealed, jumping away from the rat and ending up in front of the king and queen.

"Miku!" the queen exclaimed, sounding more angry than surprised. "What are you doing here?"

I bowed and saw Leon doing the same. "I'm deeply sorry! I didn't mean to eavesdrop on the both of you."

I heard the queen was about to say something but the king interrupted her. "It's okay, Miku," he assured as he put a hand on my shoulder as well as Leon's shoulder, signaling we were allowed to get up. "I thought you watching Luki."

"It's okay. I got Al to watch over him," I explained. "As for the reason I'm down here, I came to take back my bodyguard."

"You mean the ninja?" the king asked. I nodded.

"Wait, Luka's your bodyguard?" asked the queen in disbelief.

"Well technically, she's my escort but that doesn't matter. She belongs to me." I realized a moment too late on what I said. Thankfully the dungeon was dark enough so no one saw my rising blush.

"_Wait. Wait. I never mentioned Luka's name."_

The queen arched a brow at me. "Oh on the contrary, she doesn't," she countered. "She belongs to us."

I was my turn to be confused. What was she talking about? How does she know Luka? I was about to ask when the queen continued speaking.

"Miku, would you like to see Luka?"

I bit my tongue. Of course I did but I didn't want another outburst like with Leon and Al. especially not in front of the king and queen.

"Honey, are you sure we should let her see?" the king asked.

"I don't see why not," the queen replied. "It's not like she can do anything to stop us. Plus, this way Miku will see Luka for what she really is."

I was getting a bit ticked off. They were talking as if I wasn't standing right there next to them. "What are you talking about? What's wrong with Luka?"

The queen looked at me with a sly smile and snapped. "You'll find out." Even the king looked a bit worried. I'm pretty sure I looked a lot more worried. Leon looked…emotionless. Seriously nothing gets to this man!

Suddenly a red haired girl dressed in black comes out of nowhere and bows to the king and queen. "Your Majesties," she said politely. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Teto," the queen replied. She looked around at the small crowd around her. "And we're going to bring along a couple more guests."

Teto nodded and looked at me. She was about the same height as me. "Hello, Your Highness," Teto greeted, bowing before me. "You'll be in for quite the show." Even though she was still bowing, I could see the smile creeping up on her face. It was a sinister smile. A slight chill went down my back.

Teto stood back up with the smile gone as if it was never there. She started walking down the hall followed by the queen, the king, me, and Leon, respectively.

_"Oh Luka…What happened…"_

**Luka's POV**

"_Almost there." _

I stretched my toes to grab a hold onto the edge of the window-like opening. But I missed by a hair. I've swinging for about ten minutes. It wouldn't have taken so long the chains weren't so freaking heavy.

I grunted as I swung backwards one more time, gaining enough momentum to reach my goal. Then I leaned forward as hard as I could, sticking out my feet.

_"Yes! I got it!"_

I managed to get both feet inside the room. I tried standing up but I lacked the amount of chains available to me.

"_Now what do I do?" _The levers were a bit far away for me to reach with just my feet. _"Crap, I didn't think this through." _

Then the door opens and Teto appeared. She wasn't very ecstatic to see me attempting to escape. She quickly put her hand behind her back and threw a knife at my left leg.

I hissed in pain as that leg went limp, leaving only my right leg on the wall. I saw Teto reaching for another knife and I quickly threw my leg to the side, barely dodging her attack. Now that I lost my grip on the wall, I fell backwards back to the middle of the room.

"What's going on, Teto?" That voice was sounding too familiar. I felt my blood boil at the sound. It boiled even more when I saw her face.

Then the king entered followed by Miku and Leon. Some of my anger turned into confusion and partly relief.

"_Miku. She's okay. But why is she here? Don't tell me she came for me."_

I pushed that thought away. There's no way she'd do that. Especially not after what happened with Luki. But I can hold onto a little bit of hope, can't I?

"It seems Luka was trying to escape," Teto said as she observed me swinging back and forth in shame. "But it won't happen again." She walked over to her wall of levers and pulled one down.

Another chain emerged from the ceiling, hooking itself onto the chains already on me. At the same time, more chains appeared all around my box room and attached onto me. Within seconds, I was in the middle of a web of chains, restricting any movement from me.

I bet it was an interesting sight for the newly arrived guests. I was a half covered cocoon with a bleeding leg. Very interesting indeed.

But the sight of the guests themselves was a bit more different.

The king was confused but mostly worried. "_Why is he-oh, I forgot. I'm his daughter. But how come he's so different from his wife?" _

Leon was emotionless so nothing new there.

Miku looked horrified at what just happened. I bet she didn't expect to see me dangling by a chain then a second later, in the middle of this mess of chains. But it was nice to see her make an expression towards me other than anger. I'll take what I can get.

The queen and Teto, on the other hand, were smiling with evil satisfaction. I hated them so bad right now.

"Very impressive, Teto," the queen complimented, examining the chains around the room.

"Thank you, My Queen," Teto said proudly as she happily took the compliment. "I've been tweaking the controls so that they-"

"Ok enough talking about how I'm chained up and more explaining on why I'm up here in the first place," I yelled, snapping everyone out of their trance and directing their attention to me.

"Yes, please explain," the king said with a small cough. He didn't seem like the one in charge of my impending doom. "I understand your intentions but isn't this going too far. I mean she's only our-"

"Silent!" demanded the queen. "You're the king. You should know better than anyone that what's about to happen is for the sake for the people. We wouldn't want another catastrophe in the kingdom again, now do we?"

The king's eyes widen in horror and looked at the ground sadly, probably thinking about what happened.

_"What happened? I caused a catastrophe. What did I do?"_

"But it was only an accident," the king reasoned. "She was young. She didn't know any better she just lost control."

"Yes that's why she must be detained. She's a danger to everyone."

"How am I a danger to everyone? What did I do that was so bad?" I asked because listening to them continue on with their conversation was only making me more confused.

"You don't remember?" the king asked.

"She's lying!" the queen cried then facing towards Teto. "You should've gagged her!" Teto shrunk back in fear.

"I don't think I'm in the position to lie," I pointed out, taking a look at the chains surrounding me. "I honestly don't know what I did in the past. I don't know about the catastrophe. I don't know why I'm such a danger to others. Heck, I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that I'm your daughter!"

It was silent for a while. Well I did say quite a bit. They're probably still taking it all in. Especially Miku. Her eyes were wide and mouth had drop a little.

"_She's so cute. W-what the tuna? Luka, now is not the time for that!" _

"So you really don't remember us?" the king asked, pulling me out of my trance. He gave me sad eyes when he said that. He gave off a very different feeling than what I would normally get from his wife. It was like the sadness he felt was actually genuine.

"Whether or not she remembers, she still must be dealt with," the queen said with an entirely different tone. It was like she disapproved of me.

"You know what, 'mom'? Actually I refuse to be related to you. As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to beat you up so badly. I don't care if you are the queen." I started kicking round to express my anger which was actually not the best idea because my leg was still wounded and kicking around only made it bleed more.

"Foolish girl," the queen snarled with arms crossed. "As you are in no position to lie, you are also in no position to threaten me."

"Um, Your Majesty," Miku spoke up timidly so the queen wouldn't get any madder than she already was. "Those accidents. Are you talking about the ones that happened fifteen years ago?"

"Yes," the queen relied. "I'm surprised you remember that from so long ago."

"Well I don't exactly remember it. I just heard it from my parents."

They continued their little chat. I didn't try to listen to them anymore. It didn't matter anyway. I didn't know what they were talking about. I was just going to get more irritated if I did listen.

For as long as I can remember, I was an orphan. I've had people taking of me but they don't even know who my parents were. They said they found me in the…in front of the…shit I forgot. That information might be really helpful in my case.

Miku and the queen were still talking with each other. I'm not even sure if they were even talking about the same topic. The aura around them felt different. More relaxed. And here I am feeling anything but relaxed. I felt a vein on my forehead pop.

"OK ENOUGH!" I yelled, seeing a puff of smoke coming out of my mouth. "I'm sick of being out of the loop for so long! I demand to know what happened in my past!"

I had an intense stare down with the queen. I wasn't going to back down unless I get an answer. The queen just stares back and smiles, evilly. I stared into her deep black eyes. As far as I was away from her, I still felt like I could get sucked into the dark void of her eyes. But I kept face, refusing to lose.

"Since you want to know so badly," the queen smirked, "I know the perfect way to get you to remember." She snapped her fingers at Teto, grabbing her attention immediately. "Pour it."

Teto nodded like she already knew what the queen was talking about and pulled down another lever.

At first, nothing happened because I was expecting to be dropped into the water or more chains coming at me. But nothing like happened. I don't where whether to be relief or scared. The suspense of something about to happen was a bit nerve wrecking.

Suddenly I felt something wet and slimy drip down my arms. I looked over and saw some kind of black liquid. I looked around the room at the chains. They were all covered in the same kind of substance.

I rubbed my fingers in it. It felt like…oil? In seconds I was covered in oil. So instead of being soaked in water, I was soaked in oil. It was even on my face and head. I don't even know how that's possible.

Some got into my mouth and I started coughing and trying to get the taste of oil out of my mouth.

"_Water! Water!" _I looked down. _"Seriously? The one time I need water, they decide not to drown me. Wait. Oil is slippery, right? So I should be able to…" _

I wiggled around, hoping to slip right out of the chains. But something was in my way. More chains. I had failed to notice the extra chains underneath my arms. So the only way to slip out of this was to lose my arms. I shook my head. No way in hell would I do that. I rather just wait and see what that evil queen will do next.

"Why did you just douse me in oil?" I asked. "How does this make me remember anything?" I thought for a moment. Nope. I wasn't remembering anything.

The queen chuckles and sticks her hand out in front of her. "Oh, you'll remember." Then a tiny ball of flame flickered to life upon her hand.

"_She wouldn't." _

Then she blew the fire straight towards me.

"_Fuck she did." _

I lost all sense of time. The ball of fire was moving ever so slowly at me. It was like being faced with a ticking time bomb and no way of defusing it. I didn't know what to do. Well of course I knew what I had to do. I had to stop the fire before I reached me. But how? If I summoned my own fire, which I don't even know if I can, I'd probably just set myself on fire in the process. It felt like any movement I made took hours to reach its destination. So I didn't dare turn away from my inevitable fate.

Time came back to me and the flame hit me right in the middle of my chest. The fire spread across my body in an instant. It snaked its way along the chains but stop when it hit the wall. The fire danced upon the surfaces that had any trace of oil. Since I was soaked in oil, the fire loved me.

I shut my eyes, preparing myself for the immense pain. But I wasn't feeling that burning sensation. Though it did hurt a bit and I was dying from the heat, it felt more pleasant. It was like the fire refused to do any severe harm to me. It was just putting up a show for the lovely spectators.

I opened my eyes. I expected to see the room and myself covered in flames but what I saw was the same as when I had my eyes closed. Nothing. Just darkness. Then the pain stopped. I felt nothing. I heard nothing. I saw nothing. I couldn't do anything. All I could do was stare straight into the darkness.

Something caught my attention in the distance, or at least I thought it was in the distance. The darkness made me lose all sense of direction. But it was a tiny light. Soon it drew closer and grew brighter. Eventually it completely engulfed me in light.

* * *

**Am I making Luka cuss too much? I mean desperate times calls for desperate colorful language. XD If I make her keep cussing, I probably have to change the rating to M. I'm not really sure.**

**Thanks for the reviews! They give me the right amounts of motivation to keep writing :D**

**Forgive me for any mistakes.**


	7. Chapter 7

**So I'm going to try my hand at writing in third person. I hope it's okay.**

**Some of you wanted to know Miku's reaction to...well everything. XD But that'll come next chapter, I swear.**

**In the meantime, enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

9 A.M.

Four-year-old Luka was in her room playing the piano. She loved the piano. She loved music. It was one of the first things she could accomplish when she started training to become a queen. She had received so much love and recognition from her parents. Luka loved that feeling so she kept on practicing and became a young prodigy on the piano.

Several minutes later, her bedroom door burst open with two little kids running in. There were Luki and Miku, both two years old. Miku was staying in Asakawa Kingdom with her parents for a couple of days. Her parents were doing some negotiating while Miku had a really long play date.

Luki was holding a red toy sword and Miku was waving around a blue toy wand. Luka stopped playing and got off of her piano stool and made her way toward her brother and Miku.

"Luka! Luka!" Luki yelled, running to Luka's side. "Are there dragons in here?" He waved his sword around at the room.

"Why are you looking for a dragon?" Luka asked.

"To kill them," Luki declared, holding his sword up over his head. "I have to protect Princess Miku."

"I'm the princess," Miku repeated happily, wavering her wand. "Hey, Luka," Miku took Luka's hand, "want to play with us?"

"Sure," Luka said, smiling. "What should I be?"

"You can be the dragon," Luki blurted out.

Luka laughed. "Okay, I'll be the dragon."

The three kids ran around Luka's room playing and screaming. Luka was roaring and trying to capture Miku while Luki was fighting her and trying to protect Miku.

10 A.M.

Luka, Luki, and Miku all fell on top of Luka's bed exhausted and ready to go back to sleep. Then a black-haired butler along two maids entered the room, seeing everything in a mess and three children lying on the equally messy bed.

"Luki, Miku," one of the maids called, "would you like to have your snacks now?"

Both Luki and Miku both perked up at the mention of snacks and rushed off the bed. "Okay!" they cheered in unison. The maids led them out of the room and into the hallway, leaving just the butler and Luka.

The butler bowed. "Princess Luka, you have a guest. Lady Lily has come to see you."

Luka also perked up when she heard this but for a completely different reason than Luki and Miku. Lily was a friend of her father and was like an aunt to Luka. Luka was always excited when Lily would come visit.

"Okay, thank you, Hiyama," Luka nodded. She got up and followed Hiyama out into the hallway towards the study.

As they got closer to the room, voices could be heard from inside the room.

"What a fascinating story!" Luka recognized that voice right away. It was Lily. "Is that where the name comes from?" Lily laughed.

"Yes, don't you like the name?" It was Luka's dad, the king.

"Brave Horse? Really, Yuuma? Really? That doesn't sound cool at all." Lily was still laughing.

"It has sentimental value, Lily. It doesn't have to sound cool." Yuuma defended.

"Yes it kind of does. You're the king for crying out loud!"

Hiyama knocked on the door, resulting in the conversation ending and a "Come in!" from the king. Hiyama opened the door and allowed Luka to enter first.

"Hello, father. Hello, Lily." Luka greeted, bowing down in front of them.

"You two came in at the right time," Yuuma said, holding his black bladed katana in one hand and the black and red sheath in the other. "Do you think the name of my-"

"Yuuma," Lily interrupted, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell them all about it later. I'm only here for the day. I want to talk with Luka for a while."

The king sighed in defeat, sheathing his blade and left the room with Hiyama.

"Come, Luka," Lily patted the seat next to her. Luka climbed onto the seat and faced Lily. "I heard you were playing with Luki and Miku."

"Yes, I played the dragon," Luka replied.

"Oh and how did that go?"

"I ran all over the room and I even blew a little fire out of my mouth like a real dragon," Luka declared with a proud smile.

"Wow! Really?" Lily exclaimed with eyes of amazement. Luka was full of surprises. She was definitely a natural with her powers but she didn't know it yet herself.

"Yeah but Luki and Miku didn't believe me," Luka pouted.

"Well I believe you," Lily patted Luka's head, getting a smile from the younger girl. "So did the dragon defeat the prince and claim the princess for herself?"

Luka stared at Lily with a confused look. "Umm, Aunt Lily, that's not how you play the game. In the end, Luki stabbed me," Luka placed her hand on her stomach, "and he and Miku lived happily ever after."

"Do you ever wonder what would happen if the dragon, you," Lily pointed at Luka, "got the princess instead of the prince?"

Luka looked even more confused. "Ummmm, well Luki wouldn't be so happy about that," Luka guessed. "Plus what would I do with the princess?"

Lily saw that Luka didn't understand where she was getting at. Well she guessed it was to be expected. Luka was only four years old. It was too early for that kind of stuff.

Lily just laughed it off and patted Luka's head again. "Ah, sorry, Luka. Don't worry about it. So have you been practicing our little secret?" Lily asked with a wink.

"Oh, yes!" Luka answered excitedly. "I've been practicing a lot. Watch what I can do now." She got up from the chair and stood next to the table.

She hovers one hand above the other with her palms facing inwards. She then moves them in a circular fashion slowly but gradually faster. A couple of minutes later, she removes the top hand and grabs a small book from on top of the table. Luka positions the book a couple above her palm and lets go of it. The book was hovering in midair above Luka hand!

"Look, Aunt Lily! Look!' Luka called at Lily, who was already watching the whole thing. "I made the book stay in the air!"

Lily was impressed. Luka was only four and yet she can already manipulate air. Then the book fell onto Luka's hands.

Lily clapped. "That was amazing, Luka! I'm so proud of you!" Lily praised, causing Luka to blush. "Are you tired?"

Luka shook her head. Now Lily was definitely impressed. Someone so young using their powers like that would be out for the day. Maybe the effects would kick in later.

11 A.M.

"Are you ready for tonight?" The queen asked the two shadows.

"Yes, Your Majesty," answered the first shadow.

"We await your command, Your Majesty," said the second shadow.

"Excellent." The queen left the shadows and walked quickly up towards the dining hall. She was already late for lunch.

She knew about Luka's early use of her fire powers. But instead of being proud and excited, she felt threaten. She needed to find a way to contain Luka's powers. If Luka mastered it too early, it could mean trouble for her plans. She worked too hard to maintain her plan. She couldn't let a four-year-old get in the way of that.

The queen didn't trust Lily. She was suspicious of her relationship with Luka. The queen thinks Lily is somehow helping Luka with some kind of secret training. But Lily doesn't have fire abilities. So how she was helping Luka was still a mystery to the queen.

Also Lily seemed too friendly with the king. There were only a few people who were allowed to call her husband Yuuma. The queen also questions their relationship with each other.

The queen must expose Lily for who she really is. And the best way was through Luka. How hard can it be to make a four-year-old talk?

12 P.M.

The kings and queens of both Asakawa and Saki Kingdoms gathered together inside another study.

"So continuing the meeting from this morning," the king from Saki Kingdom, Miku's dad, started, "we all agree on the engagement between Luki and Miku?"

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"I hope both our kingdoms will benefit from this, Mikuo," Yuuma said to the other king.

Mikuo nodded. "Yes. We will get our necessary vitamins from your leeks and you will the proteins from our tunas."

"But what about Luka?" The queen from Saki, Miku's mom, asked. "Do you plan to marry some one from another kingdom or let her choose?"

"Well, Aoki," the other queen began, "Yuuma and I were thinking the prince of Ryouseirui Kingdom or-"

"Yes, but Ruko," Yuuma interrupted, "maybe we should just let Luka choose."

Ruko raised an eyebrow to her husband. "Why? What good would that do to benefit the kingdom?"

"Luki will most likely rule the Saki Kingdom since Miku is an only child. So we need Luka ruling over our kingdom," Yuuma explained. Ruko nodded, understanding his point.

Aoki put her hands under her chin. "I wonder who Luka will choose to love."

1 P.M.

"Luka! Luka!"

Luka stopped walking turned around to see Miku running up towards her.

"Yes, Miku?"

"Will you play with me?" Miku begged, grabbing Luka's hand. "Pleeeeeeease!"

"Where's Luki?" Luka asked, looking around for her little brother.

"He's napping," Miku pouted, crossing her arms.

"Shouldn't you be napping with him?"

"But I'm not tired," Miku whined. "I wanna plaaaaaay."

Luka chuckles. "Okay, I'll play with you."

Miku jumped up in joy. "Yay!" She grabbed Luka's hand and pulled her down the hall.

"Where are we going to play, Miku?"

Miku stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment. She looked out the window at the clear summer day and pointed. "Let's go outside!"

Both girls went outside to the garden and played to their hearts content.

2 P.M.

Yuuma went to check on his son. He saw Luki was still taking his nap in his king-size bed. He turns to Hiyama, who was standing by the door.

"Where did Miku run off to?" Yuuma asked.

"I believe she is playing with Luka outside in the garden," Hiyama answered politely.

Yuuma walks over to the window and looked out onto the garden. Indeed Luka and Miku was together outside. They were lying in the grass in the middle of the courtyard. Both were out of breath but they had smiles across their faces.

Yuuma noticed that Luka only smiles like that when she is playing with Miku. He thinks it's good for the girls to interact more. Miku's an only child but probably has friends too. Luka, on the other hand, is always attending classes or tutoring sessions and keeps friends at a distance.

"Maybe I should cut down on some of her classes," Yuuma mumbled to himself. He hopes to will make Luka relax a bit more. But when Miku came over, it was pretty much guaranteed that Luka would be more relaxed and in better condition.

Yuuma sees Miku dozing off. Apparently Luka sees this too because she gets up and carries Miku on her back and begins walking back to the castle.

That was Yuuma's cue to help and bring Miku in for her nap.

3 P.M.

"Don't try any funny business in my kingdom, Lily."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ruko."

Lily was in the castle library, reading a book when Ruko decided to interrupt her. Lily didn't even look up from her book.

"Don't play dumb with me. I know yours and Luka's secret," Ruko declared.

"_How does she know Luka can control the air?" _Lily thought but she kept face and didn't look up from her book.

"_I cannot let Luka use anymore of her abilities of fire this early." _Ruko thought.

"I'm warning you that if you don't leave the kingdom, Luka's not going to do so well in the future," Ruko threaten. With Lily gone, it'll be easier to deal with Luka.

This time Lily closed her book and looked up at Ruko. They glared at each other for a good minute.

"You better not touch her," Lily tried to sound intimidating but couldn't stop the small waver that crept into her voice. "Why would you hurt your own daughter?"

"You, of all people, should know the answer to that question."

Lily looked down to the table and clenched her fists. There nothing she could say to make the situation better.

Ruko smirked and begins to leave. "I expect you to be gone before dinner."

4 P.M.

"Aunt Lily!" Luka barged into Lily's room to see her packing up her bags. "Wait, what are you doing?

Lily stopped packing and looked at Luka sadly. "Sorry, Luka. Something urgent has come up," Lily lied. "I have to take an early leave."

"But Aunt Lily, you said you were going to stay for the day," Luka whined, grabbing onto Lily's dress.

"It'll be okay, I'll visit again soon," Lily reassured, rubbing Luka's head. "So what brought you here in the first place?"

"I wanted to ask you if you could take me flying again," Luka confessed, still feeling a bit down.

Lily thought for a moment. There was still quite a bit of time before dinner was to be served. Some flying time with Luka wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Okay, Luka. Let's go flying."

"Yay!" Luka cheered, dragging Lily by the hand to the rooftop.

Once they got on top of the roof, Lily faced the ocean, smelling the salty breeze. She helped Luka climb onto her back and started concentrating for the upcoming experience.

"Are you ready, Luka?" Lily asked.

"Yep!" Luka cheerfully announced. Lily was amazed how unfazed Luka was. This wasn't Luka's first time but it was still remarkable the young girl was able to stomach what was going to happen.

Lily takes a couple of steps back away from the edge and makes a running start, jumping down headfirst to the waters.

"WHEEEEEE!" Luka screamed, causing Lily's eardrums to get sore. Luka wasn't scared of heights one bit. It was like she enjoyed it more than being on the actual ground.

Lily chuckles at Luka, ignoring the pain in her ears. After a couple of seconds of freefalling, Lily wills the air around her back to obey her every command, revealing a pair a white feathery wings. The large wings appeared beside Luka and she reached over to touch them. They were amazingly soft and silky.

After several large flaps, both girls were high in the air, next to the clouds. The sun shone its light down onto the water, making the ocean sparkle like a million of gems.

"The water is so shiny!" Luka exclaimed, pointing downwards. They flew straight into a cloud. "And the cloud is so wet!"

Lily laughed. "I hope you get to share this experience with someone you love in the future."

Luka became silent for a second. "Do you love me, Aunt Lily?"

"Of course I do!" Lily declared. She was surprised Luka even ask that question. She turned her head and saw Luka's sad face. "Why are you asking? Is someone bullying you?"

"No one's bullying me. Recently, mommy's been really strict with me," Luka confessed. "And I don't know why."

It was true. Her mom hasn't been praising or complimenting Luka like she used to. It was like she found a reason to hate Luka. Luka doesn't even know the reason herself otherwise she would've fixed it in a heartbeat just so everything could go back to the way it was before.

"Oh don't let that get to you too much. She's probably in one of her moods," Lily joked, making Luka smile a little. "Just remember that I love you," Lily turned and kissed the top of Luka's head. "I'll always love you, Luka, as if you were my own."

5 P.M.

"Hello, Yuuma honey."

"Oh what a surprise to see you here, Ruko."

Yuuma was currently in the middle of training his soldiers. When he saw his wife enter, he gave everyone a short recess.

After a small exchange of hugs and kisses, Yuuma spread out of his arms. "So what brings you to the almighty training room?" he asked with an exaggerated tone.

Ruko rolled her eyes. "As much as I love being in this room," Ruko said with a sarcastic tone, "I only came to tell you something."

Yuuma motioned to the bench by the wall and the couple sat down on it. After getting comfortable, Yuuma brought his hand up, signaling Ruko to continue.

"I know Luki won't start training for a couple of years but I'm telling you that I'll train him personally," Ruko continued.

Yuuma looked a bit puzzled. "And why would you want to do that?"

"Well, you're going to be busy prepping Luka on how to rule the kingdom," Ruko explained. "So in the meantime, I'll prep Luki."

"Do I have any other choice but to accept?"

"Not really."

Yuuma laughed. "Haha, I see where you're coming from. Okay Luki's all yours."

Ruko smiled. That was just a small but important part of the plan.

6 P.M.

Dinner was about to be served. Slowly the royals went to their place around the table. There was Mikuo, Aoki, Miku, Yuuma, Ruko, Luki, and…

"Where's Luka?" Miku asked.

Everyone looked around but none saw the girl.

"Hiyama," Yuuma called, "go fetch Luka." Hiyama was about to leave when Ruko stopped him.

"No," Ruko got up from her seat. "I'll go instead." She left the room before anybody could protest and made her way to Luka's room.

When she entered the bedroom, Luka was sleeping in her bed. Ruko walked next to her and noticed Luka was clutching something and a note sat on the pillow next to Luka.

_Luka,  
__Remember that no matter what I will always be on your side. I don't know when I'll see you again (whenever the queen cools down) but you have my necklace to remember me by. You have the potential to be more than just a queen and I look forward to the day you harness that power. Just don't let that go to your head and don't forget the people who are important to you.  
__The one who loves you the most,  
__Lily Masuda_

Ruko crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trashcan after she had finished reading it. Luckily she read it before Luka had woken up otherwise things would've became more difficult. She looked over at Luka's closed fist and pried them open, revealing a yellow gem in shape of a single wing.

Ruko eyes the gem suspiciously. What is the meaning behind this necklace? Why is it shaped like a wing? Maybe…

While she was thinking about this, Ruko put her hand in the air and snapped twice. In the corner of the room where it was the darkest, two beings materialized from the shadows and stepped forth into the light, kneeling in front of the queen.

"Grab the girl."

7 P.M.

"HURRY UP AND SHOW THEM, YOU WORTHLESS REJECT!"

The whip came down again, sending another wave of pain through Luka's body. It kept coming down, creating scar after scar on her back. She couldn't move. They chained her to a post, making it easier for them to hit the girl. So much blood everywhere. Luka's blood.

"BRING OUT THEM ALREADY!"

Luka didn't know what they were talking about. But she couldn't speak, only scream in pain. She cried, realizing they weren't ever going to stop until they got what they wanted. Everything hurt. Luka wanted the pain to stop. She wanted them to stop hitting her. She just wanted everything to end. She just-

"Okay stop," Ruko commanded. "Bring her to me." The two torturers stopped. They released Luka from her chains and dragged her over to the queen.

Luka's clothes were all tattered. Her back was the main focus of the beatings for it was all bloody and scarred. Most of the wounds were concentrated in only two areas and under the thin layer of blood, one could see two lines of scars in the middle of her back.

Luka herself was panting and crying, blurring her vision. She didn't even know where she was or what she did to deserve this punishment. She could feel her consciousness failing her. Suddenly cold water fell over her small and frail body. It felt refreshing but only for a second. The pain would then come back twice as hard.

Ruko looked down at the pitiful girl down at her feet. Luka hasn't said a thing since this had started. She just cried in pain. Ruko hasn't asked any questions yet. She thought it would be easier to make Luka talk if she broke her down first.

"Show them to me," Ruko said coldly.

"I…don't…know…" Luka voice staggered. She had enough wits together to know that she had no idea what this person was talking. It was too dark to even see the person in front of her.

"I know what I saw. And I saw you flying in the distance this afternoon," Ruko stated. "How is it possible that you have wings? How the hell is it possible you can fly?!"

Luka thought for a moment. This person must be talking about Lily but they must've seen her pink hair instead of Lilly's blonde hair.

"It…It's a…secret." Luka swore to keep it a secret. She was determined to keep it no matter what she had to go through. It was wishful thinking but she hoped her young age would prevent these people to keep hurting her.

"You guys can continue." The two torturers placed the chains back onto Luka and resumed their little game.

Ruko groaned. Making a kid talk was a lot harder than she thought. Plus how was she going to explain to everyone else on the wounds on Luka?

"Your parents didn't want a tainted like you!"

They pulled Luka's head up by her hair and spit in her face. Then they threw her back to the ground. They kept finding new ways to torture her. Trying to get her to do something. She didn't know how. She didn't know what. But they never bother to explain to her what it was.

"You will suffer until you die!"

That's the thing. When will Luka die? She has seen Death so many times but he has never taken her. Why must he let her suffer? Why does he reject her? Why does everyone reject her? Why…

"Wait!" Ruko held up her hand. They stopped and stared at the queen. "Did you just say tainted?"

The first one nodded her head, not sure where Ruko was going with that.

Ruko put her hand to her chin. Tainted? Where had she heard that before? Then it hit her. Lily! Oh why hadn't she thought of that before?! It made so much sense!

Ruko walked over to Luka with newfound glee. She kneeled down so she was face-to-face with the dying girl. "Will you tell me now?"

Luka shook her head. The queen expected that. "If you don't, something very unfortunate may happen to Lily, your real-"

"NOOO!" Luka shrieked. She started to glow red. The chains shackled on her wrists melted off and slid onto the ground. She stood up and shot her head straight at Ruko. "Don't touch Aunt Lily! Don't hurt her!"

In an instant, she was on top of one of her torturers. Luka clenched her fists and fire covered them. She delivered two punches: one across the face and the other right in the stomach. The torturer never saw it coming as she slumped to the ground.

"CUL!" yelled the other torturer. Luka glared at her with fists still in flames. The tips of her hair turned into flames as well as her bare feet. The torturer took a defensive step backward. But it wasn't back enough.

Luka jumped at her with inhuman speed, kicking her right to the chest. The victim flew across the room and hit the wall with a sickening thud.

Ruko didn't like where this was going. She commanded the shadows to swallow up her two fallen subjects, hoping they would be safer in the other world. Ruko stood up, thinking of a way to detain the berserk girl or even to escape.

She didn't get far in thinking because Luka appeared in front of her and grabbed her collar, bringing Ruko down to her level. Luka's face was emotionless but only her eyes revealed that the girl was once human. In her eyes, Ruko saw pain, anger, fear, and power. She knew Luka was no longer in control of her own body. Something else had taken over. Something very dangerous.

"Don't touch Lily," it was Luka's voice but at the same time, it wasn't. It sounded like death and whoever heard was the next one to die. "She's the only one who loves me. She's the only-AHHH!"

Luka fell to her knees with her head in her hands. Luka was scared. She was scared of this power. She wanted to lock it away forever. It made her do bad things, evil things.

She looked up at Ruko's shocked expression. "Run mom," Luka said almost pleading. "Run." Ruko left the room without a second thought.

Luka didn't question why her mom was down there with her. She didn't care at the moment. All she cared about was that everyone was safe. Because what was about to happen next could potentially kill everyone in the castle.

8 P.M.

It was hot. Everything was burning. Everything was on fire. But Luka didn't feel a thing. No pain. Just relief.

Charred bodies stretched across the red floor. Not a soul in sight. She was alone.

The place was starting to crumble. Luka ran, trying to escape the burning hell. The more She ran the faster it fell apart and the hotter the flames burned.

She felt like she was going in circles. She wasn't getting anywhere. If anything, She was getting deeper into the fire.

Then Luka came upon a dark room, devoid of the flames. She went further in until she saw a mirror. And the creature in it terrified me.

It wasn't the disheveled hair, covered with dirt and blood. It wasn't the cuts and scars all over the frail body. It wasn't even the glowing red eyes. It was the flaming wings floating behind me. She turned and realized that they were her own.

Slowly, a dark hand appeared and covered her mouth. Luka closed my eyes and screamed.

* * *

**Now you know all the names of their parents. :D I don't really agree with Yuuma and Ruko being together but I had already said that the queen had black hair and everything and Ruko was the only Vocaloid that I would use for a character like the queen. Besides Ruko always seemed like an evil character to me and the queen is evil. If you didn't know that by now, please go re-read the previous chapter and this one again. **

**Oh did you guys notice that at 7 and 8 pm, I went back and reused the nightmares Luka was having. I just changed it so it was in third person. That was smart, huh? ;D**

**One more thing. Everything that happened in each hour has its own significance in the story. It's up to you guys to figure them...or not XD**

**Anyways, forgive me for any mistakes.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I shall now reply to my lovely reviews from last chapter! I was actually gonna do this a couple chapters back but I forgot and by the time I remembered, it was too late. XD**

**To YoshiYoshinon: Well technically Lily isn't exactly Luka's aunt. Luka sees Lily as her aunt because of their bond. It's a very special bond.**

**To Takado: Yes I hate her too but every story needs a villain right? Also I didn't really plan for all that stuff to happen to lil Luka. It sorta happened -_-' Is Lily really who she says she is? Maybe, maybe not. Read and find out! ;P **

**To GooBall: Thanks! I think this fanfic is pretty amazing too XD And more is coming, hehe believe me, more is coming. **

**To One-x-Three: Just wanted to say first that I finally understood your name a couple weeks ago XD After stalking your favorites, I finally understood XD Ahem anyways, sorry if there wasn't a lot of Negitoro goodness. I didn't think 2 and 4 year olds would already be thinking of that. But I'll make sure to add extra in future chapters just for you ;D**

**To Hattori: Damn I love it too XD I'll try to update often but my summer vacation has been unexpectedly busy T.T**

**To Negitoro equals LIFE: I looked up negitoro and saw a picture of sushi and thought, "Dang this person must really like sushi." But after reading the ingredients and looking at some more pictures, I was like "Ohhhhhhhhh" XD I hope the dragon gets the girl this time too...I'm still tweaking the ending.  
**

**To catlovers: Yes I guess the three of them make a cute-best-friend-relationship...I didn't even mean to do that XD About Miku remembering, she was just TWO years old when the accident happened. I don't expect any of you to remember what happened when you were two years old. Heck I barely remember what happened last week XD Yes I find Lily's role to be pretty important. As awesome as a battle between ice and fire would be, I hadn't really planned for a fight between the two...but I'll think about it. If they do fight it won't be for loooooong time (I might be exaggerating that ;D)**

**Phew gotta love those reviews!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Miku's POV**

What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say? What could I do? What could I say?

Everything happened too fast. There was barely enough time for everything to process in my head, let alone me doing something about it.

First, I saw Luka get swamped in a mass of chains in some sort of torture chamber. She was no longer in her ninja clothes but rather in some tattered rags and a knife stuck in her leg. She was soaking wet and with a quick peek below, I understood why. Her hair was also let down and the way the light hit her hair made it look soft and touchable and…

"_Wait. What?! Focus, Miku! No time for that!" _I shook my head of those weird thoughts and tried to focus on the real situation at hand.

Second, in a heated argument between Luka and the queen, the fact that Luka was actually a royal was announced. That completely threw me off. Luka had none of the etiquette or manners a royal would have. She was rude, lazy, greedy, and…and a whole of bunch things I can't think of at the moment. But if I looked closely enough, Luka did show some resemblance to the king and Luki.

Third, the Teto girl pulls one of the levers, drenching Luka in some kind of black substance. With a little outburst from Luka, I learned that it was oil. That must've been uncomfortable being covered in the dark liquid. The dark, wet, slimy…

My face was on fire. _"Stop! Why is it so hard for you to focus, Miku!" _

But that wasn't the only thing on fire. Lastly, the queen drew a flame from her palm, smiling evilly at Luka. My heart fell and I gulped. I was starting to sense the wickedness in this woman. The queen blew the small flame straight towards Luka.

I don't know if it was just me but I saw the next few seconds in slow motion. I wanted to stop the flame with all my might but I thought that if I moved even an inch, time would come rushing back and I wouldn't be able to intercept it. So I stood still, watching as death made its way slowly to Luka.

"_But wait. If Luka's related to this family with fire powers, then fire shouldn't hurt her, right?"_ I clung onto that assumption with all my hope.

Once the fire hit Luka, it instantly spread across everything that had oil present. My heart stopped for a second, expecting a cry of pain from the burning girl but heard nothing. She was struggling a bit at first but then stopped of a sudden and went limp. Though she may look dead, she was just unconscious because the smell of burning flesh was not present in the air. I have no idea how I knew that but I just knew. Luka was still alive.

I breathed out a long sigh of relief. So it's true Luka was a royal. It was going to take me some time getting use to that detail but I couldn't help feeling a tiny bit hopeful.

If Luka was of royal blood, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad thinking about her in a different way.

"_No, I shouldn't be thinking about this at a time like this. Plus we're both girls. My parents would never approve of it. The people would never approve it. But that shouldn't matter if the feelings are…" _I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. _"Wait, I like Luka? When did I start liking her? How did I-" _

"This is taking longer than I thought," the queen groaned with her arms crossed. Was she expecting something interesting to happen after burning her daughter alive? Definitely getting bad vibes from this woman.

"The hell?!" the king exclaimed finally getting angry. "This has been going on for too long." He quickly made his way over to the wall of levers and started pulling on random ones.

The first lever made the walls in Luka's chamber close in. I stiffen. Thankfully the next lever he pulled made the walls stop. I relaxed a little bit. When the king pulled down the third lever, all of the chains unattached themselves from Luka except for the original one that was holding her from the top. The chains that removed themselves didn't go back into the wall but rather just hung where they were. The room looked as though fire was raining from the ceiling.

Teto separated the king from the wall, standing in between them. "Stop, Your Majesty. You don't know what these levers can do. You're only going to make it worse."

"Wait," the queen said, putting up her hand at Teto. "Go back to that first one. I like that one."

"No!" the king yelled, stopping Teto from pulling the lever. He turns to his wife with questioning eyes. "How can you do this, Ruko? She's our-"

"No! No!" Queen Ruko shouted, putting her hands in the air. "She's _your_ daughter, Yuuma, not _mine_."

"Wha-I thought we agreed that this wouldn't be a problem."

"Oh this became a fucking problem when she burned down our castle fifteen years ago," Queen Ruko explained, fists clenched as if she was about to punch someone. Teto, who was the close one to her, slowly took a small step back. "But that's not even the best part. I've found out who her real mom is."

King Yuuma gulped. "You do?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes," answered the queen. She was leaning on one foot with crossed arms. "Do ever wonder why you haven't seen Lily since the accident?"

When the queen mentioned Lily's name, I noticed the slightest movement in Luka. At least I knew Luka was still alive. I don't think anyone else noticed since they weren't paying much attention to the burning girl.

The king stared at the queen in shock and disbelief. "No…you didn't." His voice was trembling.

"Well it's actually a funny story," the queen chuckles. "When she heard about our fallen castle and Luka's disappearance, she came running, or _flying_," she winked at the king, who winced, "back and immediately blamed me for everything that happened, one thing lead to another, and Lily's trapped in the shadow world." She shrugged at it like it was no big deal.

Luka twitches some more.

King Yuuma's eyes widen. "You killed her?"

"I don't even know. I've tried to summon her. I even sent Teto and CUL to go look for her," she explained. "But she remains hidden. So for all we know, she could be dead."

"RAAAHHHHH!" Luka roars, fire coming out of her mouth. It was so sudden and loud that it nearly made everyone in the room jump off the ground and turn to the source of the noise.

Luka turns her head around, examining her current position. Then she looked into the room in front of her, studying the people who stood frozen in surprise and fear. When her eyes landed on me, my heart stopped. Her eyes were like a deep void of darkness.

I felt a weight on my shoulder. I tore away from Luka's gaze and saw that it was Leon's hand. "We have to leave now, Your Highness," Leon warned, still looking at Luka cautiously.

I pulled away. "No, we have to help Luka." I didn't how I was going to help but I knew I needed to stay. I looked back at Luka, starting to hear the heavy footsteps of the oncoming guards.

The flames on the other chains slipped off and started spiraling around Luka. They tightened around Luka's own chains. When they loosened, the chains were gone and Luka was standing in midair with a wicked smile. Numerous rings of fire circled around her as if they were protecting her from every angle. But she also looked like she was ready to go on the offense at any moment.

Leon put his hand on my shoulder again. "Please, Your Highness, I must get you to safety."

"Yes, we all must leave," the king stated. "We have to evacuate the castle."

"No," the queen argued. "If we leave, she's just going to burn down the castle again. We must finish this now."

By this time, ten guards marched into the room and made a wall between the royals and Luka.

Luka reached and removed the knife from her thigh. She took a glance at the wall of guards and flicked the knife straight into the forehead of one of the guards. Luka smiled with sick joy. I looked back at the guard on the ground and figured out that Luka chose that guard for a reason. If the guard wasn't standing there, the knife would've hit the queen instead.

And the queen noticed this too. Her look of surprise quickly morphed into anger, glaring viciously at Luka. "Guards! Kill her!" she commanded, pointing at her.

The moment Queen Ruko said that, Luka jumped at one of the guards. She landed on top of his chest, causing the man to fall onto the ground. Several cracks could clearly be heard from the breaking of almost all of his ribs. Before the guard could cry out in pain, Luka grabbed for his neck and snapped it to the side, killing him instantly.

The other guards quickly backed away with their weapons between them and the girl. Luka stood up, still standing on top of the guard's chest. The dead body burst into flames.

I noticed that the rings of fire were no longer circling around Luka but had spiraled along her arms.

Two guards gathered up their courage and charged toward Luka, pointing their spears at her. Luka easily grabbed the tips of the weapons before it had even touched her. The fire around her arms extended onto the spears and continued spiraling around the weapons, up both of the guards' arms, and finally circling around their necks. The men could not let go of their weapons for the fire held them together. They could only whimper in pain as the fire strangled them.

The flames retreated away from the dead bodies and their useless weapons. Luka released her grip on the spears and watched as another two fell to the ground, lifeless. She turned towards the two guards standing in front of the king and queen. They were shaking and could barely keep their swords up correctly.

But Luka did not move towards them. She just kneeled and smashed both of her hands into to the ground. Two red lines appeared and made their way at the two guards. The lines cracked the ground, emitting fire as it moved forward. It stopped once it reached the center of where the two guards were standing. Suddenly two columns of fire blasted from the ground, engulfing the two men in the blazing inferno. It only lasted a couple of seconds but that was all the time that it needed. After the flames vanished, two charred bodies crippled to the ground.

The king, queen, and Teto watched in horror as their only line of defense died before their eyes. But a wave of relief washed over them as Luka turned around to face the final four guards, who were actually guarding Leon and me. They immediately paled and stiffen, trying to find strength in numbers but they already knew it was no use. They did make another mini wall with a couple of feet separating each of them.

The fire spiraled around Luka's arm transformed into a large claw, covering her whole arm and most of her shoulders. Her arms were resting by her side as if catching her breath even though she barely broke a sweat.

She took one step turned us but before her foot hit the ground, she instantly appeared in the middle of the guards. We all turned towards her in shock and terrified of her immense powers. Her head was hanging down and we could feel the intense heat from her arms. No on dared to move.

Suddenly her arms shot from her side and directly into the chests of the two guards beside her. Her hands, or claws, stuck out on the other side of their backs but she didn't stop there. Though her arms stayed still, her claws of fire kept reaching out to the side straight into the other two guards' chests.

Once her claws came out of their chests, she was holding four dead hearts, two in each hand. Luka easily squashed the fragile organs into puddles of blood. The four men would've already fallen to the ground if it weren't for Luka's arm lodged in their bodies, holding them up.

Luka retracted her arms back to her side. They were covered in blood that was not hers. The men collapsed to the ground, still holding onto their weapons that never had a chance to attack their enemy.

Luka had just killed ten guards in the span of only a couple of minutes. She looked up from the ground and right into my eyes. She was not the Luka I barely knew. She was a demon, a beautiful demon. As dark and empty as her eyes were, I felt more mesmerized the longer I looked into them.

I was weak. I knew it and so did the demon. Her mouth twisted into a frightening smile. She took a step towards. I couldn't move or say anything, only stare as my end drew nearer.

Thankfully Leon step in between us, acting like a human shield. He pointed his lance at Luka's neck. "I don't care if you are royalty or not, but I won't allow you to lay a finger on the princess," Leon proclaimed confidently. Though his voice was strong, his lance was trembling ever so slightly.

Luka just stared at Leon and took a step back. Then the fire around her arms stretched across her whole body, making her look as though she was on fire herself. The fire quickly transformed into something like armor. After shaping into the general form of a full body armor, it harden itself into an exact replica of what Leon was wearing. The armor, the helmet, and even the weapon were the same, except everything on Luka was red.

Luka's eyes were also apparently quite sharp because when she noticed the increase of shaking in Leon, she opened her mouth. In the back of her mouth, I saw a red light, which was growing brighter. I realized that Luka was charging up to shoot a fireball or something fire related.

Leon also realized this. When Luka tilted her head back, Leon quickly pushed me to the side as he went the other way. Luka spit out a large fireball, barely missing Leon and I.

My back hit the wall. Leon was already up and attacking Luka, trying to push her away from me and back into the other room. Leon had seen what Luka could do so he was able to keep up with her and her attacks. Even though he was quick on his feet, the skill gap was easily noticeable. Luka was just playing with him.

I looked across the room and saw the queen and Teto gone. The king just stood there alone, leaning against the wall. He was mumbling something under his breath and holding his hand over his chest.

"RAAHHH!" Luka screeched as Leon actually managed to deal a final blow, pushing her back into chamber where she was first confined in. Luka jumped onto the back wall, sticking onto it. Leon was panting and covered in bloody cuts, resting against his lance.

Luka scanned around the room. "Where is she?!" she said in a low and menacing voice. She was talking about the queen, who was gone at the moment. "WHERE IS SHE?!" she repeated louder and angrier.

She transformed back into her tattered clothes and fire claws. Luka pounded both of her fists onto the wall, making two large dents. Jagged lines appeared all over the wall, which twisted its way across both rooms. Within seconds, the walls, ceilings, and even the floors were covered with fiery cracks.

The tear in the structure caused the rooms to be on the brick of destruction. The ceilings were breaking apart and falling down. The walls spit fire, making me move away from the walls. The floors oozed lava, making it very difficult to find a safe spot to stand.

With all the fire everywhere, it started to get extremely hot. I was sweating profusely in no time even though all I had on was a simple blue dress. I couldn't even imagine how the king and Leon were feeling since they had on padding and armor.

King Yuuma and Leon looked at each other, then at me, and then back to each other. They nodded, agreeing to something they didn't have to say. Suddenly I was picked up by the king and thrown over his shoulder. He ran out towards the door. Leon gave me one last hopeful smile before looking away and jumping towards Luka with his lance ready to strike.

"No! Leon!" I cried, reaching my arm out towards Leon's direction. "What are you doing, King Yuuma?" I asked in confusion. I weakly hit his back with my fists. "We need to go back and help!"

But the king kept on running. "Believe me, Miku, but in our current conditions, we will only get in the way," he explained, panting heavily. Why was he already out of breath? I wasn't that heavy. "Plus he's only buying us some time until help comes."

I had a feeling that the king knew Leon wasn't going to make it out alive. I mentally hit myself. Why did I have to be so weak and useless? If only I had trained more. If only I hadn't been so scared of my own powers.

As much as I want Leon to make it out alive, I wanted Luka to stay alive as well. But considering her current condition, I was not going to get my wish. Only one would survive and it was obvious who it was going to be. I hated reality for being so cruel and unfair but I knew it wasn't Luka's fault. She was the one hurting the most.

I wanted to help her. I needed to help her. But how? What was I suppose to do? What can I do? How can I even face Luka again? The sheer magnitude of her powers left me frozen and rendered me useless.

I let out a deep sigh and put my head in my hands, as the king carried me up the dark stairs.

Problems keep appearing out of thin air while their solutions are near impossible to find.

* * *

**Well this is definitely my shortest chapter but I had the most fun writing it. So I'm getting mixed feelings about this one. XD I hoped I described Miku's feelings and reactions well enough. I mean seriously how would you feel if someone you loved turned out to be some kind of royalty only to have their mother setting them on fire? -_- I don't about you guys but I would be feeling pretty damn confused...**

**When I wrote Luka on fire and everything, I kept thinking about Naruto in his tailed-beast form XD but sadly Luka will not have nine tails (Hopefully you guys already know what Luka's gonna have instead ;D)**

**Oh and also I got a friend who's willing to be my beta-reader :D but sadly she has only read two chapters. So for the most part, chapters 1 and 2 are proofread. And I'm so sorry I made you guys read through all of that mess. I was looking over her marks and daaaaang I've made a ton of mistakes T^T. Besides me, she actually has a life so it might take a while before she catches up.**

**But in the meantime, I'm just gonna keep updating. So**** forgive me for any mistakes.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the late update! T^T For someone who has no life, I've been surprisingly busy. -_-**

**To GooBall: Okay it's not a spoiler if I mentioned it in the story already, right? So Luka having wings shouldn't really surprise anyone because I could've sworn I had already put in a previous chapter... So Lily coming back eh? I don't know. Like i seriously don't know XD As of right now, I have no idea what the chapter is gonna be like. Only time will tell.**

**To Nexus Infinity: Why thank you :D *clicks the thank you for following button***

**To One-x-Three: Lol I didn't even realize that pun in the story XD Hmm I like the idea of _someone_ dying...**

**To catlovers: I thought the same thing but noooooo life decides to turn all weird on me XD Yeah Miku's feeling are...confusing at the moment.**

**To Satsuki Rin: Hmm well I've read a story where the author changes the point of view from almost all the characters and they do it so well. It's called "I'm Just Your Problem, Baby" by Jazzieloo. I'm still working on the pacing.**

**To YoshiYoshinon: Thanks for the nice compliments! :D And for Leon, read this chapter. As for Lily, I don't know yet XD**

**To Negitoro equals LIFE: Lol another pun XD Well here's chapter 9!**

**To RiskyWriter: Heart-pulling? Heart-pulling...heart-pulling..OHHH the heart-pulling! XD haha well I always wanted a scene about that and TADA! I did it XD Thanks a lot for those compliments! I shall try to make future chapter just as awesome! **

**To AstroKitty: I guess it did. I'm still working on the pacing. At first, I thought I was going too slow so I tried to speed it up a bit but maybe it turned out too fast...it's harder than I thought :P**

**Yay! I hit at least 50 reviews. Now if that was doubled, then I would have 100 :D**

*insert horizontal line here (it just hates me right now)*

**Chapter 9**

**Miku's POV**

A bright light blinded my vision, as the king carried me through a door. We entered a courtyard full of flowers of all kinds and huge fountains on the edge. The small wind smelled salty because of the ocean right on the other side of the wall. The sun was high in the sky, indicating was around noon.

It was only noon. It felt as though I have been gone for days. I still can't wrap my head around what I had learned. About Luka. About me…

The king set me down on a bench in the middle of the courtyard. "Are you okay, Miku?" he asked concerned, kneeling down in front of me.

"Yeah," I nodded. "But shouldn't you be more worried about Luka?" Saying that name this morning felt normal and unimportant. But now it felt so weird and unnerving.

"I am worried," he said with sad eyes. "I'm deeply worried but we can only do one thing at a time." He gave me a reassuring smile.

"King Yuuma! King Yuuma!"

We turned our heads to the source and saw Al, followed by Luki, running and screaming at us. There were guards trailing behind them.

Al went to the king's side while Luki went to mine. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Luki asked, sitting down next to me and grabbing my hand.

_"I don't think he knows that Luka is his sister."_

I nodded. "I'm fine, Luki," I assured. "Though how are you feeling? I'm sorry about what happened before." I was glad he was doing well after his little duel with Luka.

Luki turned his head away. "Ah, no worries," Luki said. His cheeks were red of embarrassment and maybe a bit of shame. "Things just got out of control. I'm glad you were there to cool things down before it got too heated," he said with a playful smile.

I chuckled into my hand at his small pun. He joined in, laughing.

"See? Look at these two laughing without a care in the world," Al said with a flabbergasted look, waving his hand at Luki and I. The both of us stopped laughing.

"Just as they should be. Something like this shouldn't concern them."

"I understand where you are coming from, Your Majesty," Al sighed slowly. "But soon this problem will concern everyone in the kingdom."

"They are only children."

Luki narrowed his eyes and stood up. "I have no idea what you two are talking about but we are not kids," he exclaimed with his hand over his chest. "So what is the big problem?"

Clouds floated overhead, creating shade over the courtyard. I noticed darker clouds far off over the ocean. A storm was coming soon.

King Yuuma seemed uneasy and had a hard time looking at Luki. "Son, there's something your mother and I have been keeping from you," he started.

Luki sat back down and stared at his father anxiously. He was obviously curious but I'm pretty sure that he's going to fill something completely different afterwards.

I noticed a faint red glow coming from the door the king and I had came from. No one else seemed to have noticed it for they were all focused on the king and the prince.

"You have an older sister," the king confessed. "Her name is Luka and she also happens to be Miku's bodyguard." He tilted his head towards me.

Luki looked at me then to his father then back to me. "You mean that ninja?" I nodded. "Did you know?"

"I just found out a while ago."

Luki stood up abruptly. "Wait. You mean I was fighting my sister?"

Suddenly the door burst open in flames. It broke off its hinges and turned to ashes before it had hit the ground. A figure emerged from the darkness. It was Luka.

There weren't any flames on her body. She looked like a normal prisoner. Except that she was covered in blood and holding an equally bloody lance. So basically she looked like an insane killer.

Luka held up the lance and threw it, landing at my feet. I jumped as it instantly appeared before me. I stared at the weapon stuck in the ground in horror.

"Isn't that Leon's lance?" Luki asked in shock.

Luka just shrugged. "He got boring really quick," she said nonchalantly.

_"So…so that means…Leon…"_ I was almost on the verge of tears. Leon had been so loyal to me and my family. Now he was gone.

The other guards had surrounded Luka, pointing their swords at her. Luka raised her hands in the air like she was going surrender but the smirk creeping on her face said otherwise.

"Well this isn't very fair," Luka said, smiling as she looked around at the guards. "I'm just one, defenseless girl. There are like twenty of you guys. How am I supposed to defend myself?"

Throughout the whole time she was talking, she said more amused than afraid. It was almost like she was teasing on purpose.

The guards were confused, surrounding a defenseless prisoner. But the blood explained it all. This girl was dangerous even though they didn't know what she was capable of. So the guards were confused and nervous.

Luka received no answer as the guards stayed silent. "Well how about I make things more fair," she said in a sweet voice.

She twirled her index fingers in the air. Thin columns of fire came out of the ground from underneath the guards. It snaked up and around their bodies, constricting any movements.

Seconds past and no screams of pain could be heard, just the occasional whimpers. The guards just stood, frozen in fear. Some would try to break away from fire but that was when their pain could be heard.

"Now this makes things more fair," Luka smiled triumphantly. "And don't try to resist or anything because if you do…"

She walked up to the guard directly in front of her. His legs nearly buckled but his fear of the fire prevented him from completely falling. He gulped loudly and looked over to his fellow guards, hoping to get saved, but only looks of pity were returned.

Luka was smiling with sick glee as she stared at the man shaking in his armor. She held out her hand and slowly waved it in front of his face. The fire-like chains around his body spread out, covering his entire body. Luka quickly waved her hand back in the opposite direction. As quick as she had waved her hand, the fire separated from the man and got sucked into her hand. What was left of that guard was only a body so badly burned that it was unrecognizable.

Everyone gaped as the lifeless body fell to the ground. Now the rest of the guards knew what they were dealing with. They also knew they had no chance against her.

"What the hell is she?" Luki asked quietly. He was shaking but trying to keep a calm face. Al wasn't looking any better. Only the king looked unfazed but he was still worried.

Luka lifted her head towards Luki, staring at the prince like she was judging him. Luki jumped a little when they made eye contact. He was not expecting this girl to be the same one he had fought earlier today.

Luka stretched out her arms to the sides. The guards stiffen at her movement. They were still holding their weapons but those were useless in the current situation. Luka then slowly moved her arms so that they were in front of her. As her arms moved, the guards quickly marched and formed two lines, making a straight pathway from Luka to me and the others. She put her hands down and the guards bent down, kneeling.

"Oh I almost forgot," she said, looking down at what she was wearing. "You guys said I was a ninja, right?" She didn't wait for answer. She was engulfed in mini fire tornado for a few seconds. After the fire dissolved, Luka was wearing her same ninja outfit from before except it was dark red and she wasn't wearing a mask and blood still stained her face. "That's better."

Luka made her way down to us with a powerful aura surrounding her like she was some kind of queen despite of her appearance.

"_Well technically she kind of is." _

As she walked, her eyes wandered over the four of us, inspecting each person closely. It was like just by looking at a person, she was able to figure out all of their strengths and weaknesses.

Then her eyes fell on me and stayed there. They were no longer covered in darkness but glowing a crimson red.

Luki noticed how her eyes never left me and stepped in between us, putting his hand in front of me while the other was on his sword's hilt. "S-Stop! Don't get any closer!" Luki demanded, trying to sound brave but couldn't stop the fear escaping into his voice.

Nevertheless, Luka looked at him and stopped walking. She was about three-quarters of the way. "Oh dear brother, I mean no harm," she put her hands in the air again. But we all had already seen this trick. The kneeling guards beside her were proof of that.

"That's bull!" Luki yelled, fear getting covered up with anger. "You're not my sister and release my guards!"

Luka put a hand over her heart with mock hurt. "Oh dear brother, that hurts. But we do not need to fight each other. We were both deceived. So let us fight together," She offered with some seriousness. "And together we can take down the queen."

"My mother?" Luki asked, puzzled by the sudden offer and its target. "I have nothing against my mother. She has taught me everything I know."

"Oh," Luka raised a brow at this fact. "Then things will just get harder for you when you betray her."

"I will _not_ turn against her!" Luki declared, rejecting Luka's offer. "And I'll tell you one more time. Release my guards!"

Luka sighed, seeing how her little plan failed. "And what if I don't release them?" she challenged.

"Then I shall kill you," Luki said bluntly, pulling out his sword. It was in a normal longsword form. His eyes were starting to glow red.

Luka laughed. "And what's my weak little brother going to do to hurt me?" she provoked. She was doing it on purpose and Luki was taking the bait.

Luki was fuming. His face was red with anger. His grip onto his sword was so hard that his knuckles turned white. But he was also trying to maintain his anger. He only wanted to kill Luka and no one else but the guards were too close to Luka. So he was holding in his anger until he got closer to her. When I looked closely at his sword, I could almost see the fire burning within the blade, waiting to be released.

"Wait, Luki-!" his father said, reaching out his hand to stop his son. But it was too late.

Luki jumped forward and sprinted towards Luka. She wasn't moving at all, just staring at Luki as he quickly closed the distance. When Luki got in striking distance, he made a final leap with his sword high above his head, fire licking the surface of the blade. Then he brought the weapon down to Luka's face.

But Luka just stared at the incoming blade with a small smirk. Instead someone else moved. It was one of the guards that was closest to her. He jumped in front of Luki's sword, taking the hit for Luka. His eyes were wide of horror and panic the whole time.

The blade cut straight down the middle of the guard's face, almost splitting his whole head. Blood spewed out and flames came out of the wound. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell to ground.

Luki had landed on his knees, staring at the dead guard lying on the ground. Then he looked his sword, covered in the blood of one of his own men that he had killed. He was shaking slightly, but I couldn't see his face. So I couldn't tell if he was shaking from horror or from anger.

Luka looked down at the guard by her feet. "Well that's just unfortunate but at least he died in an honorable death," she announced playfully, her smirk never leaving her face. "While protecting his queen."

Luki was momentarily staggered by what he had done but had quickly recovered. "Shut up!"

He yelled as he stood up and swung his sword back at Luka. The blade was now completely covered in flames.

"_Black fire? Maybe the clouds are just messing with my vision." _The clouds have gotten thicker and darker. If one didn't know the actual time of the day, they would've mistaken it to be sometime around late evening.

Before Luki managed to make contact with Luka, Luka brought up her left hand smoothly, intercepting the sword. Just as swiftly as she caught it, she moved one foot back a little and brought up her right hand, flat to the front. She slammed her palm against Luki's chest.

Luki went flying away from Luka, past me, and into the fountain that was on the other side of the courtyard. The king, Al, and I ran to his side. Luki sat up, coughing up some water with a hand over his chest. The king and Al were helping him get out of the fountain.

I heard Luka hissed in annoyed pain and I saw her dropping the sword onto the ground. The fire died out and blade disappeared, leaving only the hilt. Luki scoffed as he leaned against the fountain, trying to catch his breath. He stuck out his hand towards Luka or rather at the object on the ground. The hilt shook a bit before flying back into Luki's hands like a magnet.

"Fool!" he yelled as tossed the hilt around his hand for a bit. "This was specifically made for me. It will only obey to my powers and harm anyone else." He placed the hilt out in front of him and the blade formed into its regular shape, a red longsword.

Luka just shook her head. "Relying on one weapon," she said disappointed. "How did I get such a useless little brother?"

Luki was about to run off if it wasn't for the king, Al, and I holding him back. "Shut up! I don't have to prove anything to you!"

"Of course you do," she laughed. "And you got some smart people around you. If you had charged at me again, I might've just killed you."

Luki's anger was boiling up again. I don't think we could hold him back for any longer. I made my grip drop in temperature by a lot. Frost formed around my hands, which calmed Luki down significantly. I let go of him so I wouldn't accidentally freeze him. Luki looked over at me, giving me a thankful smile. I smiled back.

"Apparently, it seems that queen isn't coming anytime soon," Luka said, looking around the courtyard then sighed. Then she disappeared in flames and reappeared on top of the tower behind her. Fire came out of her hands and swirled around behind her, forming a large, tall chair. She sat into it, leaning on one armrest and putting one leg over the other. She looked like a queen sitting on her fancy throne, watching over everyone. "In the meantime, let's have fun, shall we?"

She smiled, giving me (and probably everyone) an uneasy feeling. She snapped her fingers, loudly. The guards kneeling on the ground stood up, eyes glowing red. They stared at us with dead expressions. I noticed the fire not only acted like chains, controlling their victims' movement but it also stuck into the back of their necks like a tube. Red lines came from it, covering their body. It looked almost like their skin was about to crack and fire would come out from the openings.

"Oh shit," Al muttered, reaching his hand to the hammer on his back. The king put his hand on his katana. Luki gripped his sword tighter. I just fidgeted because I realized that I didn't have weapon. I didn't have anything to defend myself with.

"ATTACK!" Luka ordered, pointing her finger at the four of us. She leaned further back into her chair, watching at the scene about to unfold before her.

The guards ran towards us with their weapons ready. They were faster than they used to be. The guys had their weapons out and met the guards halfway. The clashing of metal and flesh signaled the start of the fight.

King Yuuma tried to commanded the guards to stop before attacking but it was useless. They were under Luka's control. They were her slaves. Who knows if they could be saved now.

A guard thrusted his sword at the king, who had barely dodged it. The guards had also gotten better at fighting. The king deflected another attack and kicked the guard's chest, pushing him back several feet. That only caused two more guards to take his place. The king tried not to severely harm the guards. He used the dull side of his blade, trying to knock some guards. But they always got back up like zombies.

Al swung his huge black and white hammer around, keeping the guards a safe distance away from him. Even though his weapon was big and bulky, he was still quite agile with it. He slammed his hammer down onto a couple of oncoming guards. The guards only got back up. Even if some of their limbs were bent the wrong way, they showed no signs of pain. They actually put those limbs back into place, letting out a terrible cracking noise.

Luki kept the guards away from me. He changed the form of his sword into a large curved blade with jagged edges. He slashed in an upward motion at the closest guard to him, who was a few feet away. A wave of fire was released from its tip, hitting the guard. It continued to burn and moved further backwards, colliding into more guards, adding more distance between us.

"Where the hell are the other guards?" Al complained while sending a guard into a bush.

They guys were getting tired and reinforcements had yet to arrive. Plus the fight was extremely unfair. It was four against twenty.

"_But I remember Luka killing one of the guards." _

Four against nineteen.

"_But I'm not fighting. I don't know how." _

Three against nineteen.

Still extremely unfair and they got some enhancements to their strength and health. So they basically never die or get tired while the guys on my side could do exactly those things. I dread the first one more.

I could probably fight. I didn't want to get in anybody's way. What was I going to do anyway? Splash some water on them?

_"Wait, that actually might help…but…"_

"Oh, so you want more guards to join the party?" Luka asked, sounding more excited than she should. "Okay then, let's bring out some more!" She raised a hand and snapped, making an abnormally loud sound, resonating throughout the courtyard.

Door leading into the castle opened. Dozens of guards flooded in, bordering the edge of the courtyard. They were all in the same condition as the other guards with their fire chains, face cracking, and glowing red eyes.

"Oh double shit." Al groaned, facepalming.

Luka burst out laughing. "Ahaha! It's been so long since I've used this much power and had so much fun," she said, wiping a tear. She was lying across the chair, head on one armrest and legs over the other. "Maybe the queen will join us if her loved ones are about to die, but then again does she even love any of you?" Luka rolled over to her side, facing us. She propped up her head with her arm as she scanned the courtyard with sharp eyes. "You know what? I bet the queen is here right now, hiding in the shadows, watching you all get hurt, waiting until it's her turn to strike." Luka frowned at that and sat up. "Wait, we can't let that happen." She stood up and stretch her arms out in front of her. "Minion! Burn this place to the ground!"

Fire came out of the minions' hands. Actually it was the fire on their bodies that did the shooting of fire. Within seconds, the courtyard was on fire, burning all signs of nature. The guys and I managed to avoid the fire and kept to the dry areas.

Some guards went back into the castle all while burning everything they passed. In minutes, the whole castle was swallowed up in fire and smoke. Screams could be heard from inside the building as outside. The sky had turned a dark red and the clouds were black. I'm not sure if that was natural or it was reflecting from the fires but it looked very ominous.

The king and Luki fought fire with fire. It worked out pretty well for the most part. There were just too many guards creating the fire. Though getting hit by our fireballs stunned them, they promptly got back up and continued burning the place down.

Luka had already sat back down, her hands intertwined together in front of her face. She looked like she was getting a lot of pleasure from watching all of this.

Luki appeared before me and grabbed my shoulders. "You need to fight, Miku!"

I was afraid he was going to say that. "You know I can't fight," I reminded, shaking my head.

"I know you have the power to fight but you're too scared to use it," Luki retorted. "Don't be afraid. Your powers are amazing and beautiful. You just have to embrace it," he reassured, giving me a strong smile. "Plus there's nothing you can do to make things any worse than they already are."

I hesitated for a moment then gave Luki a weak nod. "Okay I'll try." Luki smiled brightly.

I ran to the closest fountain while he covered me. I'm sure he changed his sword into that fire octopus form but I wasn't paying much attention to that. I was trying to calm my nerves.

When I arrived at the edge of the fountain, I stared at the water for a second. It looked red from the reflections of the flames. Then I brought out my arms, palms facing inwards, and fingers relaxed. I moved my arms from side to side. The water followed, making small waves. As my movements became more dramatic, the waves became bigger.

It was time for me to wrap this up. I sent my arms in opposite direction, the water in sync. Then I brought my arms down and up above my head as if I was holding an invisible ball. A big blob of water floated above the fountain, water squishing back and forth. I looked up at the liquid in awe and pride that I had actually made a sphere of water.

But the feeling was short-lived when someone bumped into me, sending the both of us falling.

"Ahh!" I squealed, as we hit the ground. It was Luki and he was on top on me. This situation seemed very familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Luki blushed, causing me to blush and realize how close we were. I could practically hear my heart beating, or was it his? Either way the whole thing was embarrassing.

The sounds of men screaming in pain brought the both of us back to reality. Luki hastily got off of me and looked away, hiding a blush. Then he cleared his throat. "Good job, Miku," he said. "The water had weaken them."

I looked around and the guards around Luki and I were either stunned or spazzing out. It took me a second to figure out why they were acting in such ways. When I got knocked down, the sphere of water must've exploded and soaked the surrounding guards. But eventually those guards returned to normal and continued attacking.

"If they reacted like that from just a little bit of water, then just imagine what'll happen if you drown them." Luki picked up his sword from the ground and fended off approaching guards.

"Hmm, I see." I didn't want to kill the guards. They were just innocent victims, forced to follow the wrong orders. I needed to find a way to release them from their trance without harming them. Then it clicked. "Luki," I called. He just pushed back a guard and looked at me curiously. "I have an idea but I need to be in the middle of the courtyard."

Luki looked at me for a second then nodded. He started running to the center, leaving an open path for me to follow. He yelled at the king and Al to come and protect me while I do something. They happily obliged and they made their way towards us.

Once we met up in the middle of the courtyard, I stood in the center as the guys made a small triangle around me while also giving me enough room to do whatever I had to do.

I focused on the four fountains in the corners of the courtyard. Then the movements came naturally like it did before. I didn't know where the boost of confidence or the amount of control I had came from but I didn't think too much about. I just focused on the water.

I moved my hands in circles out in front of me. I was getting a feel of the water from all four fountains. Once I got better control over the waters, I stuck my arms out to the side, palms down. I rotated my wrists around, palms ups. I bent my elbows and raised my arms a bit over my head. The water rose a couple feet in the air, keeping its form from being in the fountains. I moved my hands to my front and made spherical motions, shaping the water into huge spheres. Then I brought my arms up in the air, mimicking the position I was in before. Water from the four spheres shot out and went to the area above my hands, creating one larger sphere. As more water flowed into the center sphere, the original spheres shrank. Soon it was all done and an enormous sphere of squishing water floated my head.

The guys were staring in awe at the water. The guards were eyeing the water with fear. Even Luka looked at it with anxious. Everyone was expecting me to disperse the water, making it rain over the courtyard. Though there was enough water for that, I had another idea that would be more effective.

I lowered my arms, splitting the sphere into two smaller oval-like blob. The water followed my hands as they descended. When they were about halfway down, I instantly brought them down to the ground.

The water followed with the same intensity. Once it hit the ground, it quickly spread across the surface. It expanded its reach, aiming for the imprisoned guards. On its way, the water also extinguished any wandering fire in the courtyard. When the water made contact with the guards' feet, it moved up their bodies. The guards stood frozen in place, unable to break free from the watery hold.

Eventually the water covered their entire bodies. It glowed a light blue before the chains of fire slipped off the guards and onto the ground. The red lines on their faces disappeared and their glowing eyes returned to its normal colors.

Within several minutes, a thin layer of water covered all of the surfaces and guards in the courtyard except for me and the guys. There wasn't a single flame lit where the water was.

The effects washed over me and I fell to my knees. Once I was down, the water obeyed gravity, causing the guards to fall to the ground.

Luki ran towards me and the other to followed suit. "Are you okay, Miku?" Luki asked, kneeling at my side.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Are they dead?" the king asked as he and Al looked at the mass of bodies lying all around us in disbelief.

"No, they're just unconscious," I explained. I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. After getting some of my energy back, I stood up with the help of Luki. He looked at me with concern. I just used a lot of energy at once after barely ever using my powers. Of course it was taking a toll on me but there were bigger problems to deal with. I gave Luki a reassuring smile.

We had just finished liberating the minions. Now it was time to deal with their leader.

Luka.

* * *

**Well I hope that was enjoyable.**

**Is this story an M now? I have no idea...**

**Forgive me for any mistakes.**


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